apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

These are tempting. I love bento boxes but they're often way too shallow to put a sandwich in. These might be a good alternative. Leak-proof is definitely a perk and the cool colors don't hurt at all.

hmm, i've been wanting something really tough for air travel, i'm always afraid i'll crush stuff but these aren't insulated either

They resemble school kids' lunchboxes from my youth in Taiwan. Watch "Eat, drink, man, woman" to see how they work.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111797/

Our families would put leftovers in several aluminum tins with lids marked with our names in pen. The metal containers stack and clip together (some without clips were held together with a belt). Teachers would gather our lunches as we came to school and send them to the school kitchen. The kitchen staff would put the containers in huge canning type pots, suspended over hot water.

At lunch, the teachers would hand our hot lunches back to us. We took the reusable containers home to wash and refill each night. We were required to come to school with a clean handkerchief each day which doubled as a napkin. Zero waste and much tastier than the school lunches in the US.

Isn't aluminum potentially dangerous to store food in? I've heard that it can leach into your foods, and so you shouldn't cook with it or store food in it; is that just an urban legend?

~Q

Here you go.
http://www.lunchboxes.com/army.html

$20 6.95 for shipping. Looks like silver only.

What does the inside look like? These could potentially be a space saver for regular kitchen things, too, like snacks in the pantry or granola.

I was wondering the same thing -- here is a pic of it opened up: http://www.reusablebags.com/store/images/products_large/aluboxopen.jpg