Green and Healthy School Lunches

With a quick glance around most school yards atfamilies on the go. Perfect for school, work or a
the end of the day you will be sure to see plentyday there are some sustainable lunch containers
of garbage cans overflowing with the leftoversout there which are reusable, recyclable and
from lunch! Juice boxes, drink pouches, plasticdishwasher safe. Try to find lead free items too.
sandwich bags, granola bar wrappers and- Purchase food items in larger quantities saving
aluminum cans to name just a few.you money while reducing waste at home.
It has been estimated that a child bringing a- A reusable water bottle will encourage your
disposable lunch to school each day will generatefamily to drink water instead of juice and greatly
67 pounds of waste per school year. For anreduce school yard waste.
average size elementary school this equals about- Pack reusable spoons and forks instead of
18,760 pound of waste each year.disposable ones.
Although many school yards provide recycling bins- Try packing a cloth napkins instead of paper
they are seldom used correctly by our averageones. Many companies are offering some great
elementary school student. Most of this wastestyles and designs which will also bring a smile to
just ends up in the garbage.your childs' face when they open their lunchbox.
Todays moms are busy though and these- Pack lunches the night before to save yourself
disposable utensils, pre-packaged snack packs andsome valuable "morning time".
juice boxes offer a quick and easy solution to the- Make extra servings at dinner time so that the
daily lunch box challenge! But - by making just aextra portions can be immediately placed into
few small changes, moms can send their child offsmall containers ready to go into the lunchboxes.
to school each day with a healthy, waste free- Many States and School Districts offer recycling
lunch that will actually save them some moneytips and green/healthy lunch tips and programs.
too!Inquire and your childs' school and see what is
So how's a busy mom ever going to find time toavailable. We know that we'll be making an extra
make these changes? These Green Lunch Tipseffort to reduce waste at our school this fall.
have come to the rescue!Generating 67 pounds of waste just does not
- Use a lunchbox designed to help families packseem to be acceptable in todays environment.
nutricious, environment friendly lunches for busy