Zero Food Waste Lunches

During Earth Week the 4th grades at my school went on their outdoor education trip to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. While there, they are challenged to have zero food waste at every meal. Every year we win the "gold" for zero food waste and then we come home and the same kids throw away half their lunches every day, along with a lot of packaging material. This year I asked some of the group if they would like to take the zero food waste idea back to school and they enthusiastically agreed.

We are now planning a zero food waste lunch for the whole school. We're starting with just one day this year, but I hope it will grow. The 4th graders came up with great ideas for advance planning to eliminate waste -- asking parents to pack less, bringing plastic storage containers for leftovers, asking for items they will actually eat, and so on. They are busy making posters and writing announcements. Wish us luck!

Coincidentally (or maybe not) I came across this website today: Waste-Free Lunches. It's got ideas for waste-free lunches, focusing mostly on packaging, and also has links to other good sites.