As long as humans have grappled with the idea of taking food with them, they've wrestled with the various concepts for a lunch box. Lunch boxes hold food and drink, sometimes just acting as a portable container and sometimes they are also called upon to keep hot and cold foods at their respective temperatures.

The humble "brown paper bag" is one of the most common ways that people carry their lunch, but this container offers little physical protection to the food and can do nothing about food temperatures. It also has a short lifespan due to it's very limited durability.

Lunch pails, lunch boxes, totes and bags can be found in a variety of cloths, plastics and metals, in a range of shapes and sizes. My grandmother brought my mother a wonderful "antique lunch box" from Thailand one year. It's a series of stacking silver bowls with lids, and two long sticks slide down through slots and screw together to hold all four of them together.

Many people dismiss making and taking their own lunch to work or school as too much trouble but really there are some good reasons for bringing your own lunch.

1. Save money - this is often a big reason for why people switch from buying lunch out to bringing their own. Lunch can frequently be made at home for less than the $10-$15 most people spend daily on eating lunch on the run.

2. Trying to lose weight - making healthier choices and controlling portion size is a lot easier when done with a meal you put together rather than one you buy.

3. Special dietary needs - sometimes due to food tolerances or allergies, some people just aren't able to find foods that are okay for them when eating out.

4. Efficient use of leftovers - often closely related to reason number one, those dinner leftovers can make for a fantastic lunch the next day.

5. Less garbage and waste - Bringing your own lunch and using a lunch box is a great way to reduce packaging and trash generated by buying lunch out.