I'm sometimes a bit out of the loop when it comes to the newest and coolest in lunchbox design, so these Goodbyn bento-style lunch carriers completely passed me by until now. How awesome are they?! Forget the kids, I want one for myself.
Goodbyns are made from one continuous piece of molded plastic (food-safe and recyclable) with several compartments to hold all your tasty lunch foods. The biggest compartment can hold sandwiches and whole pieces of fruit, while the smaller ones can store a handful of granola, cookies, or even a few tablespoons of ranch dressing. In the larger-sized Goodbyn, you can even store a juice bottle right inside one of the compartments.
A flexible lid snaps over the whole container. This prevents leaking between compartments and lets you carry the lunchbox upright or slip it into a backpack. The Goodbyn FAQs say that thick sauces like dips and yogurt are fine, but the lid isn't leak-proof enough for soups.
For kids, this is a manageable lunchbox that can easily go from backpack to locker to lunch table. Each Goodbyn also comes with a set of dishwasher-safe stickers for decorating and personalizing. And who doesn't love stickers?
For us adults, I'm thinking of that packed office fridge. Not only would it be easy to slip this slim lunchbox in between the other bags and take-out containers, but food would be kept relatively protected from the strange odors and spills that seem inevitable in a communal fridge. I also wonder if lunch thieves might be deterred by the distinctive design and the fact that you can't just reach in to grab something quickly.
I'm sold. What about you?
• Find them: Goodbyns, $25.95 for the Original, $16.95 for the Bynto at the Goodbyn store
Related: How to Make Your Own Lunchbox Icepack
(Image: Goodbyn)
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Yep not just a kid thing... I've totally gotten into bentos as a way to make sure my meal is balanced (I do high protein, low carb for health reasons http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-bento-box-rocks.html ) love them. They make me feel like a kid at recess :) They encourage me to get out of the house and get fresh air, soak up some sunshine/Vit. D more too.
I looked at these when I was looking around for my children's lunchboxes. The reviews on Amazon said that they were difficult for kids to close so I passed it by for a less cute but easy to use bento system for them called Easylunchboxes.
My kindergartner loves her original Goodbyn in pink. It is easy for her to open and close. Also, I can see which foods she eats at lunchtime when I clean it out each day. Love it :-)
I also chose Easylunchboxes for the same reason as Meredith. I can see how this might be good for an older kid or adult, but for my little kids, 3 compartments are plenty. There is no way my kids would eat this much food. Finally, these are expensive to get multiples, so I would have to wash them by hand every night, as opposed to popping them in the dishwasher. I don't mean to bash this product, but these are some thoughts for anyone considering purchasing a bento-type lunch container for their kids.
I love making bento for my kids, but I'm not enamored of this container. It's too big for most grade-school kids; even the smaller size is pushing it if you really are making bento, rather than packing standard American lunch foods in a fancy box. The big box is really big -- more than a foot tall, 3" thick -- and that's a lot of backpack real estate (much of which is actually being occupied by the space between compartments). There's also no place to put an ice pack in it, so unless you're putting it into a fridge or packing things that don't need chilling, you'll need to enclose it in a separate bag. And I wouldn't like being limited to just one shape -- I have a bunch of different styles of bento box, and the different shapes lend themselves to very different packing styles, which increases the apparent variety of the lunches and reduces the kids' tendency to get bored (mine too!).
YES!!! We have a green one. I got the biggest one they make for our almost 3 year old but it might be a bit too big. He'll grow into it soon!
Very cute and very clever, but the top is kinda hard to close correctly. If you don't get the each particular compartment closed then the food will get all mixed up together anyways. Forget soups, just nuts and fruit and granola will all end up in one compartment.
I almost bought one of these for my son when they were only special on Gilt. Once I got through shipping, it ended up being $20, and I just couldn't justify the cost. I think it's adorable, but I just couldn't do it.
I also read about the difficulty closing it, but figured as long as I send it to school closed correctly, it didn't so much matter if each compartment was properly sealed when he was done--I'm just going to wash it out at that point.
I just did a whole post on lunches and bentos!
http://www.juliasbookbag.com/2011/08/healthy-lunchboxes-for-kids.html
I have found a lot of GREAT info on the site Anotherlunch.com, and the site owner, Melissa, said that while the Goodbyns are indeed cool, they are TANKS and she prefers the Easylunchboxes for her bento-lunch creating. So I ordered some! I've seen Goodbyns in person and they are really neat but they are also really BIG.
I got this for my 3rd grader at the time, and when I closed it fully, it was really hard for her to open it at lunch. Good Idea, really difficult for younger kids.
Like some of the other commenters, I ultimately decided on Easylunchboxes after doing a ton of research for my 3 year olds' lunches. I needed to have at least 6 lunchboxes (don't want to do washing every day) for the triplets, and the cost of anything else was prohibitive. But then this morning, I saw one of these that one of their classmates brought in and I was kind of smitten. But I will stick to what I have, unless I win the lottery. :)
Cute, unless you want to microwave your pasta and not your salad dressing.
Anyone else not a fan of compartmentalized containers? I think they remind me too much of school lunch trays and those awful styrofoam plates.
We have three of these, two Byntos (the small ones) and one larger one, and we use them for all sorts of things. We tried several other ones, including the Easy Lunchboxes (glorified Chinese GladWare) but Goodbyns nail it. I love that they are really easy to clean. And thank you, someone actually believes in making things in the USA!
So exciting to see this article b/c I love my 3-compartment Bynto! It's easy to open/close and is sturdy. My bag gets jostled a lot on my commute, and I've never had a problem. Plus, my co-workers think it's really neat!
I bought one of these for my son last year for Kindergarten. We used it all year long, and will be using it again this year. It makes packing lunch easier and he likes it - more fun and attractive than a typical lunch bag full of plastic containers. The original is a little big but it still fits in his backpack. He had to learn how to open and close it, but he's mastered that by now. I just ordered two of the Byntos (the little version) - one for my 3 yr old for preschool, and one for either my son or me for a smaller lunch.
I totally recomment the Planetbox over the Goodbyn. It's a bit more money, but it's not plastic and has held up exceptionally. I got one for my daughter last year and from how it looks a year later, I figure we'll be using it for years.