Picnic perfect

I promised I would post info about the Wrap-N-Mat, a great "green" product a friend of ours introduced us to, which would be especially good for people with kids who take lunches to school (or adults who bring their lunches to work), or for anyone taking a summertime picnic to the beach or elsewhere.

So here's the deal: I know I've been guilty of using plastic sandwich bags for a variety of things, from sandwiches to snacks, and then just throwing them away. I knew you could wash them and reuse them, but they always seemed to rip or wrinkle and the whole idea of reusing this disposal item over and over kinda skeeved me out. Enter the Wrap-N-Mat, a "green" alternative to its throwaway cousin.



As you can see above (in the images from a recent issue of Real Simple), the Wrap-N-Mat is like a sandwich wrapper and place mat combined. If you don't like the picnic-y gingham print shown here, they have other fabric prints to choose from. I have to be honest: I don't love their other options for prints, but they do have solid colors too and I really like the above gingham red and white.

I love that when you unwrap the sandwich, the Wrap-N-Mat becomes a place mat for you to eat on, meaning you don't need a plate (or maybe even a napkin). The best things are that they're completely reusable, easy to wipe down, come in different sizes (there's a larger one for big sandwiches, plus a smaller size for snacks), they save you money and are a much greener choice overall. Perhaps I'll add this to the list as a fun holiday or birthday gift for our friends' kids and even for some of the adults I know.