Brought My Lunch Flickr Group / Contest

This past week I brought my lunch to work on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursday, I attended a seminar that included lunch, so I didn't need to bring a lunch, and I didn't have to buy one either. Today, which is Friday, I left early, so there was no need to bring or buy a lunch. The point: I didn't buy lunch once this week! I had set that goal last weekend, and wanted to see if I could actually go a whole week without buying lunch. Mission accomplished. I am now going to continue this effort for the rest of August, and for the month of September as well (the one caveat being that one day during the week I can eat out -- so as to be able to meet up with friends and actually get away from my desk and out of the damn office).

I'm bringing my lunch for two reasons -- 1) to save money, and 2) to stop eating the unhealthy foods that I gravitate towards when I run out to grab food during the lunch hour. (I also tend to overeat when I eat out -- not one slice of pizza, but two... or, if I order Indian food from my favorite Indian cart, I will eat ALL the food on the plate, even though it is piled high and wide and easily enough food for both lunch AND dinner.)

So to give myself a further incentive -- beyond saving money and eating healthier, I'm making a project out of this bag lunch effort. I'm photographing the lunches that I bring. I've also created a Flickr group -- "Brought My Lunch" -- and I'm hoping you'll join the group and submit photos to the pool of your own bag lunches. I have no idea if anyone is interested, but just in case, I'm going to make it a little informal contest. The best "brought my lunch" photo submitted to the Brought My Lunch Flickr group -- whether it's because the food looks so good or it's just an amazingly creative shot, or both -- will win a prize. The prize is to be determined, but it will be at the very least three cool creativity-focused books, as well as some lunch knick knacks. I will pick the winner for this first round on Sept 1, 2007, so you have until August 31, 2007, to submit photos to the Brought My Lunch Flickr group. Again, this is an informal contest, to serve as an incentive to get creative with your bag lunches AND your camera. More updates and details soon. And assuming it's okay with the various photographers, I will occasionally post photos of the bag lunches on this site. Okay, start planning and documenting those bag lunches!

UPDATE: The winner of the inaugural round of the Brought My Lunch contest is... Lekkercraft. Full announcement here.

Comments

[April]

I just wanted to let you know I have enjoyed this site for months. Inspired by your site and Artful Blogging magazine, I have finally started a blog of my own. Keep up the good work!

[lekkercraft]

Also, besides all the reasons you listed, bringing food to work in reusable containers creates much less waste than buying lunch out.

[Jeffrey Yamaguchi]

You know, in terms of reusable containers, I was thinking about the paper plates in the three pictures above. I found those plates in the office pantry -- Anyway, I need to start packaging my lunch in a way that doesn't require the use paper plates. I need better containers for sure. So that is now on my to do list -- and if I find some really good containers, I will make that part of the prize.

[felicia]

this is totally delish, jeff. if you bring down a burrito, i'll bring up a scone.

i use the glad reusable containers and they come in handy. the FLAVIA machine has bumped all of our office plates.

btw, i'm still bitter about the FLAVIA machine. eco-terrorism if you ask me.

cheers, f.

[jessica]

Just wanted to drop by and say that I bought 52 Projects for a friend for Christmas last year and he really enjoys it. In fact, we're tweaking some of the projects into 'long distance keep in touch with friends and be creative projects,' which has been a lot of fun.

I sometimes set these 'less eating out' goals for myself too and it definitely helps to earmark one or two days a week to really get out of the office, catch up with friends, and enjoy somebody else's cooking. That said, what a fun way to go about brown-bagging-it! As to the whole reducing-waste dilemna, you could always try spreading stuff out on a cloth napkin [if you have them ... which are ALSO great for reducing paper waste in the home, to put in a little plug there]

[Yvo]

Awwww, I JUST found out about this. Well, check my link to see my lunch shots... I've been photographing my lunch for a while, and I also find that about once a week, I don't bring lunch, but it's still okay :)

[chowsue]

Yvo wins hands down so far!! Her web blog is fascinating