Upgrades for the brown-bag lunch crowd

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What’s green, helps you save money and lose weight, and is on sale?

The answer: Laptop Lunches, a container system that’s a cross between a Japanese bento box and an old school lunchbox.

Bringing your lunch to work may not be glamorous, but your mother would certainly approve. In fact, the product was conceived by two working moms, Amy Hemmert and Tammy Pelstring in Santa Cruz. Hemmert, who spent a few years as a student in Japan, went off to school with her lunches in bento boxes. When she came back to California and had children, she packed her kids’ lunches in bento boxes. When she picked up her children from school, she noticed the teachers carrying large trash bags full of juice boxes, chip bags, plastic containers and bottles.

‘Parents waste so much money paying for the packages that come with these foods,’ said Hemmert, who teamed up with entrepreneur Pelstring to create their company, Obentec, which sells Laptop Lunches through their website.

Obentec started by marketing to schools and parents for kids’ lunches. But the adults caught on, too. Some have even used the lunch boxes to help them lose weight. ‘We’ve had several people tell us they use it as part of their Weight Watchers program to help them control portions,’ Hemmert said.

It’s no secret that packing lunch can cost less than going out, or even eating at the company cafeteria. How much? See for yourself by plugging in your average spending in the LunchSavings Calculator. The calculator has a nifty feature that gives you a rate of return for your savings, assuming that you tuck the money into a savings account, money market or other investment vehicle. Even with a 1% rate of return, you would save more than $3,400 after four years of bringing a $3 lunch instead of spending $6.50 on a meal.

Want to save more? The company is throwing a rare 20% off sale this weekend to clear items as it shifts warehouses. To get the discount, type in the coupon code: holiday2008. The sale ends Tuesday.

-- Alex Pham

Photo credits: Obentec