The Green Parent

For today’s Waste-Free Wednesday, I’d like to take a look at a tried and true eco-topic, the waste-free lunch.  When it comes to school-aged kids, this is one of the best ways to talk to them about reducing waste and conserving resources.

If you’re not familiar with the concept, here’s a little background info.  According to Wastefreelunches.org, the average school aged child produces roughly 67 pounds of waste each year, just in her school lunches.  The modern school lunch has become a single serving eco-nightmare filled with juice boxes, disposable baggies, single-serving meal pouches, tossable utensils and paper napkins.

The idea behind a waste-free lunch is to replace all these disposable items with reusables: a reusable drink bottle and sandwich containers, a cloth napkin, and reusable utensils all tossed together in a cloth bag or reusable lunch box.  Filling up a reusable container with a handful of veggies or crackers not only eliminates waste, it also costs much less than buying a bunch of single-serving pouches.  And its a great conversation starter with the kids.  So a waste-free lunch just makes sense, right?

You may already have many of the items you need to pack a waste-free lunch.  But if you do need to buy new, look for containers and a lunch bag that are BPA, PVC, and lead free.  I really like the cool eco-kits from Lunchsense (pictured above).  It took a mom of three (now 6, 8, and 10) to come up with a better way of packing healthy, portion-appropriate meals for kids…all in waste-free, eco-savvy containers.

And while we’re on the subject, here’s more waste-free goodness from around the web:

• Crunchy Chicken contemplates the neurology of spending.
• Food blogger Robin Shreeves from MNN offers 7 reasons why you should take your lunch to work.