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In most cases, lunchroom waste (e.g., food and food
packaging) is a large component of a school district’s waste stream. By
implementing a zero-waste lunch program, students, parents/caregivers, and
teachers can work together to prepare lunches that reduce the amount of trash
being thrown away. These efforts can also save parents/caregivers money in the
long run. In fact, according to the U.S. EPA, packing a waste-free lunch saves
an average student $250 and 67 pounds of trash per nine-month school year.
Pack a zero-waste lunch with these tips:
- Avoid disposable lunch bags.
- Use lunch boxes or fabric bags for lunch.
- If paper bags are used, save and reuse them.
- Avoid prepackaged single-serving containers.
- Buy your favorite treats,
such as chips, applesauce, or yogurt, in large packages/containers or in
bulk rather than single serving packaging.
- Repackage snacks in
reusable containers such as margarine tubs to avoid using
single-serving packaging (e.g., plastic bags).
- If plastic bags are used,
they can often be washed out with soapy water and reused.
- Use reusable containers or Thermoses for drinks and soups.
- Pack a cloth napkin and reusable utensils.
- Bring fresh fruit since it doesn't require any
additional packaging.
Zero-Waste Lunch Activities For Schools
- US EPA developed a
Waste-Free Lunch
poster to help students learn how to reduce, reuse, and recycle items in
their school lunches. The poster can be used to get students interested in
zero-waste lunches and learn how to organize a Waste-Free Lunch Day.
- Incorporate the concept of a zero-waste lunch in
economics, science, and environmental curricula.
- Encourage competitions based on which class can
produce the least waste from lunches per student. Students could also weigh
the garbage from the cafeteria, post and regularly update a wall graph
demonstrating their success in reducing waste.
- Sell zero-waste lunch kits, which could include a
durable bag, Thermos, and durable sandwich and snack containers, as a
fund-raiser.
Recycling
Work with your school’s child nutrition and janitorial staff to
designate an area for recycling and composting or vermicomposting
(composted with worms) efforts.
- Organize a
"green
team" to remind students how to sort lunch items in order to
avoid contamination of collected materials. Also, the green team can make signs
to encourage students to put recyclables in designated areas.
- If reusable containers cannot be used, encourage
recyclable drink containers. Milk now comes in small recyclable
polyethylene bags, and many juices and waters are packaged in recyclable
plastic or aluminum. These containers can be redeemed at many
recycling centers or may be collected by a local recycler or non-profit
organization (e.g. local conservation corps). Remember to check each
plastic container for the material container code to see if it can be
recycled in your area.
- For more information about school recycling, check
out CalRecycle’s brochure on
easy steps to starting a school recycling program.
Take Leftovers Home. Leftover foods don't have to be garbage. Take leftovers home for
the family compost pile or coordinate with the school garden staff to
collect compostable food waste for on-site composting or vermicomposting.
Composting or vermicomposting lunch ware. If your school uses plates or trays, make sure
they are made of materials that can be reused, recycled, composted, or vermicomposted. Generally speaking, aluminum trays can be recycled. Paper
trays can be recycled where opportunities exist if they do not
contain significant food residue. Paper trays can also be composted or vermicomposted even if they have a light wax
coating. Composting and vermicomposting work best when the paper is shredded first.
Some schools incorporate the use of
biodegradable
eating utensils, although this has not worked well for vermicomposting.
Purchasing for Waste Reduction
Everything we purchase eventually will be discarded. How much packaging
we purchase, whether an item is toxic, reusable, recyclable, compostable,
or has recycled content depends on the decisions made when the item is purchased.
- Buy Recycled Products. Many reusable products are now made
with recycled content. Purchasing these items completes the recycling
loop by creating a market for recyclable materials. Close the recycling
loop by purchasing recycled products for your school district. The
easiest and most widely available recycled products that schools use are
recycled copy paper, hand towels, toilet seat covers, and toilet tissue.
You can also purchase school supplies and other goods made with
post-consumer recycled content. Such materials include lunch trays,
lunch bags, pens, pencils, rulers, clipboards, ink jet and toner
cartridges, stadium cups, etc. You can find these and other recycled
items by searching CalRecycle's
Recycled-Content
Product database.
- Disposable vs. Permanent Ware.
The
School Nutrition Foundation
conducted a study to develop environmental and cost profiles for the
production, use, and end-of-life management of disposable and reusable
ware used in school cafeterias. Based on the serving ware systems
studied, reusable compartment trays had a lower environmental impact and
were less expensive when compared to disposable serving ware options.
For more information, see
Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Analysis of Disposable and Reusable
Ware in School Cafeterias, Including Dishwasher Operation.
More Information
-
Zero-Waste Cafeteria--Harding Elementary School in Santa Barbara County now composts or recycles
all the waste it generates in the lunch program, including disposable plates
and sporks made from vegetable-based materials. This is a perfect example of
a zero-waste cafeteria in California!
- Zero-Waste Policy--Oak
Hills Elementary School in Ventura County implemented a zero-waste policy,
which decreased its waste by 90 percent. Additionally, Ventura County's
Integrated Waste Management Division promotes zero-waste lunch by offering
workshops at school sites to explain the cost benefits and provide training
to successfully implement a zero-waste program.
- Waste Free
Lunches--Information regarding how to implement or participate in a
waste-free lunch program. This site includes sample letters to parents and
teachers, information on conducting trash audits, examples of
salvaged/recycled art projects, composting basics, where to purchase
waste-free lunch kits, success stories from across North America, and links to
other waste-free lunch sites.
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