okay, peanut.

PUL, or polyurethane laminated fabric, originated in the medical field. There was a need for some sort of material that would provide a waterproof surface capable of being washed and sterilized over and over and over again. PUL is still used today in the medical field, and is often used to make cloth diapers, as well. More specifically, PUL is a fabric that’s been laminated with polyurethane on one side, making the fabric waterproof. Depending on the thickness of the coating (1 mil, 2 mil, etc.), PUL can be waterproof yet still quite breathable!

So, are you asking yourself why on earth I have researched PUL? No, I do not plan on making cloth diapers. While I’d love to greatly reduce my carbon footprint by doing so, cloth diapers are not in my plan. What I do plan, however, is to reduce the number of plastic sandwich bags my family sends to the landfill each day. It may not make much of a difference, but every little bit counts.

How will I do that, you ask? With the recent growth of our family came the need to save as many nickels and dimes as possible. For us, one of the ways we can save a bit is to pack our lunches for work each day. As I settled into eating a home-prepared lunch each day, I found myself saving and reusing sandwich bags that had once been filled with Rold Gold pretzels, Cheez-Its, Fudge Stripe cookies, PF Wheat Crisps, and other tasty dry foods. I felt guilty throwing away a perfectly good bag that could certainly be reused for similar food items the next day. I’d shake out the crumbs and pack it up for the next day!

That daily behavior led me to search online for alternatives. Sure, I could use small containers, but they’re often so bulky and are terribly hard to come by at our house. My google search on “reusable sandwich bags” led me to a myriad of possibilities available through commercial websites and etsy pages. Ultimately, I decided on a plan – purchase one of these bags from an etsy seller, make sure I’m okay with the concept and materials used, and subsequently make my own.

At this point, I am waiting on the delivery of my sandwich bag. Some decisions I’ll have to make will be bag sizes most suitable for our specific food choices, closure options, and outer fabrics (Of which I have plenty!). Hopefully the bag I chose will ROCK and I’ll be able to develop my own version from its overall concept. I’ve gotten plenty of ideas from looking at various bags online, so I’ll choose what I feel is the best of each design element and go from there.

We’ll see what happens! Meanwhile, what are YOU doing to reduce your waste impact and carbon footprint?

(And yes, I realize that I’ll eventually have to throw away and replace my reusable bags, but it’s a whole lot less waste than the sandwich bags we throw away every day!)

Note: It is also possible to purchase PUL fabric from a cooperative. Cooperatives pull together PUL fabric purchasing individuals for increased purchasing power or custom fabric. Use cooperatives at your own risk – these are just a few I found through a google search; as I have yet to purchase any PUL fabric, I can’t say whether or not they’re reputable. Here are a few:

• cloth_diaper_supplies
• comfycreations · Creative Comforts
• Diaperfabricscoop · Feeding your fabric addiction since 2004
• fantasticflannels · Fantastic Flannels and Much More!