WOW! (Weighing Our Waste)

We started our Waste-Free Lunch kickoff by doing a baseline weigh-in of what the students are throwing away at lunch. Our goal is to make improvements and reduce the amount of garbage we generate. In the coming weeks, we will work together to educate families and students to pack a waste-free lunch and then we will repeat our weigh-ins several more times this school year. It will be fun to encourage some healthy competition between the grades! :) Here are our results...

Earth Day Weigh-in, April 22, 2013

First Lunch (151 students) Kindergarten & 1st Grader's trash weighed in at 39 lbs or .26 pounds of trash per student. 

Roughly half bought and half packed a lunch. There were a lot of individually wrapped items thrown in the trash. Everyone was very good with clean up, however everything got dumped into the trash cans! One apple, and six blueberries made it into the compost.

Second Lunch (142 students) 2nd & 3rd Grader's trash weighed in at 46 lbs or .32 lbs of trash per student.

Although a lot of kids had a packed lunch, more kids bought a hot lunch at this lunch. The kids cleaned up fast, and again everything got dumped into the trash. One kiwi and two apples made it into the compost though! The kids noticed us and asked questions...is this recyclable? Does this go in this container? They were curious about the scale and what we were weighing.

Third Lunch (160 students) 4th & 5th Grader's trash weighed in at 41 lbs. or .26 lbs of trash per student.

The kids seemed fairly divided between packed lunches and bought lunches. The clean up was very good, and again, everything was dumped into the trash. Nothing was placed into compost. The older kids gave questioning looks, but were busy amongst themselves. One student asked where a water bottle should go. 

Click on the image for a larger view.

My Earth Day Promise

Earth Day is Monday, April 22. At school we will be promoting a Waste-Free Lunch. We will weigh all the waste from the lunches to get a baseline and then, in the subsequent weeks, work to reduce our waste.

Together, as a family, think about what your Earth Day promise might be. Can you commit to doing one thing to live more sustainably? Use the sheet below as a guide. Let us know your ideas!

Spring Gardening Party

Come join Green Team parents and children to prepare our vegetable and flower gardens for spring! We plan to make this green bean teepee and could use some extra hands hoisting it up! Please meet us on the Cottage playground on the following days and times:

Monday, April 15 at 11:00 am
Thursday, April 18 at 4:00 pm

Waste-Free Lunch Challenge!

Join the Cottage Street School Challenge by packing a waste-free lunch starting spring of 2013!

What is a Waste-Free Lunch? A waste-free lunch includes foods in reusable containers such as stainless steel containers or BPA-free plastic containers, cloth wraps or pockets for sandwiches and other dry snacks, aluminum or stainless steel water bottle, reusable silverware and a cloth napkin all packed in a reusable, insulated lunch bag. They discourage the use of disposable packaging, prepackaged foods, plastic bags, juice boxes and pouches, paper napkins, and disposable utensils. When we make these simple changes, we, as individuals, can reduce the amount of trash we generate. 

Why Pack a Waste-Free Lunch? Did you know that a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year? That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-sized elementary school! (source: WasteFreeLunches.org) Packing a waste-free lunch is one easy way to reduce this waste. It will also help your family budget and help children eat a healthier lunch.

How Do I Do It? 

• Start with Smart Shopping: Avoid products with excessive packaging. Play a Green Grocery Game by challenging your children to find more earth-friendly substitutes. Buying in bulk can also be more cost-effective.
• Gather Supplies: Identify or purchase reusable containers, sandwich sleeves, napkins, and cutlery. Here are some ideas for waste-free lunch kits. Once you have your kit, they can be used to make a waste-free lunch each day, saving you hundreds of dollars on purchasing disposable bags, wraps, and foils.
• Pack lunches the night before: To reduce waste, cut up fruit into smaller pieces, especially if you know your child eats only half of an apple, for example. Have them bring home what they didn't eat so you can get information about their food preferences.
• Teach your children to make a nutritious waste-free lunch: They will be more likely to eat what they have prepared. Make it fun!
• After school, have your child unpack his or her lunch containers directly into the sink or dishwasher. 

Click on each image to get a bigger image to print out. Draw your favorite waste-free packed lunch and your favorite school hot lunch.

What do you love to pack in your waste-free lunch?

Draw your favorite school hot lunch