After putting together the remote and face-to-face learning last year, the children returned to the classroom, hoping to make new adjustments to things?

Start with the "perfect" lunch container and other carry-on eating equipment. Given that the innovative ways of lunch food (and the way we carry them) have changed in recent years, there are many stylish and sustainable options.

In the past, a typical lunch opened in a cafeteria might include a sandwich, a piece of fruit, some biscuits, a few carrot sticks, or a bag of French fries. Nowadays, the food in boxed lunches is more diverse, as are the containers.

Bento boxes, bowls with lids, insulated tote bags-it's easy to find the right container for your food.

One focus now is on earth-friendly products: single-use plastics are replaced with reusable versions. As parents, we must train the next generation to remember to take everything home to clean and reuse!

You can find sub-packing boxes of various styles and various price points. Rubbermaid has produced a compact version with a reliable sealing cap. OXO has a leak-proof Prep & Go compartment in its popular Good Grips series.

The world of bento boxes continues to grow. Bentgo's classification includes brightly colored, BPA-free bento in various sizes and configurations, as well as leak-proof and stain-proof glass bento boxes.

Mepal offers simple, lightweight bento boxes in a series of cheerful colors. The bright, insulated OmieBox is suitable for young children, with a small thermos inside. You can choose to keep the food hot, cold or combined.

Some of these boxes have removable compartments or mix-and-match containers that can be filled with anything from pasta salad to dal to edamame.

But now, many people are thinking outside the (lunch) box. Porter uses plastic, ceramic, and silicone-wrapped glass to make modern, stylish, reusable lunch bowls. Mepal also produces a variety of insulated lunch containers, as does Cheeki-perfect for keeping soups and stews and what you have warm before lunch.

Onyx makes stainless steel ice packs filled with water that can be safely placed next to food so that lunch can be kept cool but not soggy.

Keeping hydrated has never been so fashionable-at this time your water bottle is actually an accessory!

Klean Kanteen has a wide range of durable beverage containers-do you know all the ways to drink beverages? Choose from bump caps, twist caps, coffee caps, straw caps, etc. Each style has up to 11 colors.

Porter's stylish water bottle is made of silicone-wrapped glass and has a variety of patterns to choose from, such as a unique, spotted limited-edition terrazzo series. Takeya also offers a variety of rainbow colors to choose from.

As for the lunch tote, you can choose anything from cute to urban fashion. For older children (or adults), consider cool waxed canvas options, especially those made by home manufacturers. The Red House in Vermont makes hand-made and strong lined waxed canvas handbags in soft colors such as gray gray and forest green. Or look for Peg & Awl outside of Philadelphia; their satisfying waxed canvas Marlow Lunchbags have a small pocket so lunch packers can leave a note for lunch diners.

Companies such as OXO, Porter and Mepal provide stainless steel cutlery sets in small suitcases. You can find reusable chopsticks in your own sleek small container online or in Asian household goods stores.

For those who can't give up straws, metal straws and silicone straws abound. (Zoku produces retractable and reusable straws for easy packaging, including extra-large pocket straws specifically for making tea.)

Discard plastic wrapping paper and use multi-purpose, washable, beeswax food-safe wrapping paper, such as those made by Prepara or Bee's Wrap. They have different sizes, patterns and styles. Bee's Wrap also produces vegetarian and plant-based food packaging.

The warmth of your hands shapes and seals the wrapper around your food; after eating the food, you only need to wash and reuse the wrapping paper (this is also great for storing things in the refrigerator).

Skip plastic bags and switch to more durable, reusable bags. Platinum silicone storage bags made by Stasher can be safely used in dishwashers, microwaves, refrigerators and even ovens. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, patterns and colors, and are easy to put in a handbag or lunch box.

Zip Top also produces "unlimited reusable" platinum silicone containers that can be placed upright into different shapes, such as bags, cups and plates.

No matter what you eat for lunch, there is obviously a good way to transport it to school.

Katie Workman often writes articles about food for the Associated Press. She wrote two cookbooks about family-friendly cooking, "Dinner is solved!" and "Mum's 100 Recipes". She blogs at http://www.themom100.com/about-katie-workman. You can contact her at Katie@themom100.com.