The average schoolchild’s lunchbox generates about three pieces of rubbish a day. For a school of 300 kids, that’s 900 pieces a day; 4500 a week; and 1,125,000 pieces of litter in a school year! What a load of rubbish! And that’s just one school!
The average schoolchild’s lunchbox generates about three pieces of rubbish a day. For a school of 300 kids, that’s 900 pieces a day; 4500 a week; and 1,125,000 pieces of litter in a school year! What a load of rubbish! And that’s just one school! I have a friend who works at a school in Sydney that had to make a search for skip bins sydney way to keep on top of their levels of rubbish on the premises. How crazy is that! I bet most of it will be empty crisp packets and yogurt pots.
That’s why so many parents are trying to make their child’s lunches litter-free ? it’s a small step towards helping our environment. It means less waste going to landfills, cleaner schools with less rubbish dropped in the grounds, and reduced waste collection costs in the community.
And it’s not only the environment that benefits, other positive side effects are:
- Your children eat healthier lunches, with more fresh food and less packaged ? gimmicky’ snack foods that contain preservatives, sugar, and additives.
- Lunches are cheaper because buying food in bulk is less expensive than buying smaller, pre-packaged products.
- It gives children a practical example of how a simple behaviour change can easily
help the environment. - It enables the children to care for their school and take pride in it.
SO HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT CREATING A LITTER-FREE LUNCH? HERE ARE OUR TOP 10 TIPS:
Invest in a good lunchbox with compartments or several re-usable containers that can fit sandwiches, fruit slices, vege sticks, dips, nuts.
Use recyclable wraps for your sammies, such as compostable paper or cloth wraps. They are available to buy, but you can also make your own. Avoid clingfilm, plastic bags or waxed paper, as these are litter-creating and harmful to the environment.
Avoid buying individually wrapped or packaged items like muesli bars, yogurt, cheese and crackers or chips. Instead, buy larger sizes and pack your own portions in small reusable containers.
Fill your lunchbox with food that comes in its own package ? fruit like bananas, apples, mandarins and hardboiled eggs are perfect. Try this cute idea: peel an orange in one long loop then wrap the fruit back up in its peel and tie it with a bow.
Frozen grapes are not only sweet and refreshing, but they help keep your lunchbox cool.
Invest in a good reusable drink-bottle (PBA-free plastic or stainless steel). Some drink bottles are suitable for freezing and this can also help keep lunches cool, which is particularly important in the hot summer months.
In colder months, make soup or 2 minute noodles and take to school in a small thermos.
Make your own muesli bars and biscuits. This has so many benefits: it not only reduces the amount of packaging you are buying, but it is far healthier, plus it’s a fun family activity ? kids are more likely to eat what they help prepare!
Make lunches exciting and different – the more they eat, the less they waste! Try yummy dips with vege sticks, left-over pizza, vegetable fritters, or individual jelly cups in re-usable containers for
a sweet, cool treat.
Ask your children to bring home all their waste from lunch. This will allow you to see what they are and aren’t eating, as well as allowing you to recycle packaging and compost food waste.
