Waste Free Lunch #LetsBeLitterFree

My motto, “little things add up to make a big difference,” came from my passion for the environment. I have always wanted to help the environment be clean and healthy for everyone, it makes the world a better place.

Recently, my school has joined a growing movement of schools that have taken a big step toward reducing waste at school by introducing Boomerang or Waste Free Lunch policies.

So, why are Waste Free Lunches such a big deal? I found some facts to demonstrate the impact that your lunch might have on the environment:

FACT: Plastic takes about 450 years just to START to decompose. That means that every single piece of plastic that has ever been made has not even started to decompose.

FACT: The average student throws away 67 pounds of garbage every year from their lunch! (By the way, that weighs even more than I do!)

FACT: 100 MILLION pieces of lunchtime trash gets thrown away EVERY 24 HOURS!

 Those are some pretty big numbers. Numbers I can hardly wrap my head around. I recently did a schoolyard cleanup with some friends and we collected 8 bags of garbage from one yard! I have to tell you that most of the garbage that we collected was from lunch – plastic baggies, wrappers and packaging. But here’s the thing – we CAN do something about this.

Are you with me? Are you ready to commit to reducing your lunch waste?

Here are my tips for Waste Free Lunches. (By the way, these are for school OR office)

 

1. Waste Free Lunches start at the grocery store. Say “no” to plastic and use reusable bags or none at all. In the produce section for example, you don’t need to put your apples in a plastic bag and pick out produce with less packaging.

 

2. While you’re shopping, keep in mind the quantity and packaging of the food you’re buying. Buy large sizes to pack for lunch in your containers. This way you create less overall waste and it costs less money.

 

 

3. Know the difference between trash, recycle and compost. Make sure that your apple cores, banana peels and napkins go into the compost or green bin and not in the garbage. If you don’t have compost or green bins at school – boomerang them and bring them home.

 

4. Make room in your kitchen to keep all of your Waste Free Lunch stuff. Reusable containers in different sizes and colours, a thermos for hot lunches, utensils.

 

 

5. I recently found a new addition to my Waste Free Lunch – Funkins resusable napkins. I use them, bring them home and throw them in the laundry. I love these because I can use them as napkins and placemats. As a placemat they’re great because they keep my lunch away from any germs that might be on my desk at school and it also keeps my desk clean. They come in a lot of different patterns and colours and that’s cool too. (Check mine out in the photos below.)

 

6. Bake more, buy less. Not only is it fun to bake, but it also reduces waste and most of the time, what you bake is healthier than what you buy.

7. Plan ahead and pack a bunch of things for lunch at the beginning of the week so that it’s easy. Keep your containers filled with snacks so that you just grab a few and toss them in your lunch bag in the morning.

 

Do you have tips to share about your own Waste Free Lunch? Let me know, I’d love to know what you and your school is doing. Tell me in the comments below or share your photos and tips on social media with the hashtag #LetsBeLitterFree. I’ll be sharing more of mine on Twitter and Instagram @ThatHannahAlper on both.

I am taking part in the Funkins blog campaign. While I have received compensation as part of my affiliation with this program, my opinions and ideas are all mine.