I’ve always had a major love for cereal, and can remember how all the boxes were lined up on top of my refrigerator. I would “eenie meenie minee moe” my way through the boxes, but never seemed to finish them.

These days, I limit the amount of cereal we have in our pantry at one time (usually two or three - two “healthy” cereals and one “fun” one). This saves money by not allowing the cereal to go stale, cutting down on food and packaging waste. It also allows my kids to rotate what they eat, so they can try new cereals and enjoy them for a couple of weeks.

When I found Three Sisters Cereal at Whole Foods (where is available exclusively), I judged it right then and there strictly on the packaging. There, among the shelves of boxes, were not-too-big (12.5 ounces), see through bags of naturally sweetened, whole grain cereal. No box! For the same amount of food, the price was less than most cereals, and no need to recycle a box, Three Sisters also explains that their cereals are produced using sustainable energy. Three Sisters purchases wind-generated electricity credits from Windsource, a Colorado renewable energy program. They estimate on the bag that if even half of the cereal boxes used were simply bags, it would save “90,000 tons of paperboard…the energy saved could power 11,000 homes for a year.” All because of a cereal box!

I bought the Cinnamon Sweets flavor, which was definitely sweet without being overpowering. My older daughter loved it, and I have to say I had a few bowls myself. That being said, it’s not the most nutritious line of cereals, which puts it in my “fun cereal” rotation. I was also disappointed to find that Three Sisters’ Sweet Wheat and Marshmallow Oaties are made with an animal-derived gelatin, making the cereal not suitable for vegetarians, vegans, or people who are kosher or Halal (the other flavors are certified Kosher). Hopefully, this can change in the near future - and maybe cereal companies will catch on about Three Sisters’ innovative, waste-saving packaging.