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Friday, August 22, 2014

Make Less Trash This School Year

New pens, new pencils, new folders, new backpacks, new clothes... the list goes on and on.  While the beginning of school is a time when people tend to buy a bunch of new things, it is also a great time to outfit your kids and yourself for lunch time.  It makes sense to buy good quality items to use over and over all year.   Items like a good reusable water bottle (instead of a case of water), a thermos, and sturdy food containers (instead of zip-lock bags and individually wrapped food items)  can really make a difference in the amount of trash you make on a day to day basis.



According to the wastefreelunches.org   the average kid produces 67 pounds of waste from their lunch each year.   At a midsized elementary school - that translates to 15-20 tons of garbage each year.  


How to Pack a Zero Waste Lunch
  • Make a sandwich or pack leftovers into a reusable container
  • Send a reusable fork / spoon
  • Include a cloth napkin
  • Pack a reusable water bottle
  • Transport it all in a reusable lunch box
Zero waste lunch practices have saved us money at our house, because instead of individually wrapped snacks or items like "Uncrustables", we pack our meals from bulk purchases.  We recouped the price of our containers after the first few months.   I do make sure everything is labeled in case a container gets left on the playground, and my kids have one set of reusable containers - which really cuts down on them misplacing things.

I hope you take the challenge and strive to pack zero-waste lunches this year!


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