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More than 1,500 elementary students from 5 Cleveland-area schools participated in the 2010 Zero-Waste Challenge. The one with the least amount of trash wins!
Parma's Bethany Lutheran Elementary School has 291 students, but they produced only 10 pounds of garbage during lunch on challenge day. Gurney Elementary placed second with about 50 pounds of trash from almost 500 students.
This challenge proves that it is possible to minimize the production of trash and still enjoy lunch.
The Zero-waste challenge gets students and parents thinking about ways to cut down on trash at lunch by packing waste-free lunches.
Simple waste-reducing measures include packing an accurate amount of food so that there won't be any leftover or scraps to be thrown away. Items that cannot be eaten, such as single-serving milk and juice cartons should be rinsed out and recycled. A greener shade of green would be to get the school cafeteria to serve milk and juices from a bulk source rather than individual, single-servings.
Instead of plastic or paper bags to carry edibles, use reusable containers such as a tiffin, as featured in the picture above. Tiffins come in sections of 2, 3, or 4 stackable containers. And since they're made of stainless steel, they won't break like glass, nor will they release toxic BPA or phthalates. The are dishwasher safe and can be used by both children and adults to pack lunches.
Other inedibles like apple cores, orange and banana peels, and "waste" from produce can be put into a compost heap.
With a little guidance, children can learn to pack a waste-free lunch while cafeteria staff can be prompted to implement low-waste meals that are made from less packaged materials like cartons, jars, etc.
Management of the cafeteria can also be upgraded so that an adequate amount of food is cooked to avoid lots of leftovers.
The point is, now that children and parents have proven to themselves that they can minimize waste, it would be great to keep up the effort.
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