So why is it important to recycle and compost all that we can at school?
Most of us don’t think about the costs of Waste Disposal at school, but we should. Every time our children throw something away at school, the district pays for it. Money spent on waste means less money for other programs. You may have heard that the district is making cuts to the budget. This is not going to improve any time soon. But we can help by making some simple changes in the choices we make for our children’s snacks and lunches.
Did you know that on average, a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year—more than most kids’ body weight! All of this goes to a landfill, adding 133 pounds per child of carbon dioxide and methane emissions to the atmosphere. Not to mention how much it costs to have this waste removed! Last year the district spent more than $45,000 to haul the waste “away.”
At (Insert Your School’s Name), our waste management plan is continually evolving. (Insert Your
School’s Story here. The following is an example at another school), The Green Team launched a lunch time sorting and monitoring campaign in which every teacher, student, and yard duty assistant received hands-on education and training on proper sorting of snack and lunch recycling and waste. We also implemented reusable party packs in the classrooms to decrease the waste associated with celebrations. These incredibly successful programs resulted in a decrease in our waste bill by more than $2,700! Most of this savings came from eliminating an entire Dumpster from our campus. We were able to do this through hands-on education and training of every student, teacher, and staff, reusable party packs in the classroom, and the support of the entire school community. (Play up all you have been doing and ask for help)
This is great, but there is always room for improvement. We learned in a formal waste audit from Marin Sanitary Service that 40 percent of what goes into our Dumpster (which goes to the landfill) is not garbage but paper and cardboard recycling. The remaining 60 percent is comprised of food (20%) and garbage (40%). Our diversion rate is at 65% and we need to get to
85% in order to receive funding to put towards our program. (if you need numbers to put here, you can do your own waste audit or arrange for MSS to do an audit for you. State what you want to do with the money. Let EVERYONE know this is important).
How can I help to reduce the amount of waste at school?
Pack a No Waste Lunch all year and reduce waste by 67lbs/child = 133 lbs of Carbon dioxide
emissions. Less waste means less landfill and a reduction in greenhouse gases! Waste-free lunches are not only a wise environmental choice, but they are less expensive as well.
A waste free lunch contains no throw-away packaging. The best solutions for food and drink packaging are stainless steel food containers, reusable non-plastic canteens, cloth napkins, stainless steel, aluminum or bamboo forks/spoons. Other good options are food safe plastic containers made from recycled plastic. Avoid purchasing foods with single serving packaging and ask your child to bring home the leftovers!
Durable and easy to clean, reusable food-safe plastic bags have the potential to replace thousands of plastic baggies in its lifetime. Another option is cotton muslin bags. The following vendors can be found at http://www.reuseit.com/store/go-fresh-c-99.html?show_all=true

1.
Fresh Snack Pack
2.
Lunchskins
3.
Wrap-N-Mat
4.
ReUsies
5.
Graze Organic
6.
Reuseit
7.
WasteNot Saks
8.
Taxi bags
Reusable containers available at this site are:
1.
Aladdin eCylce
2.
Bazura Bags
3.
Laptop Lunches
4.
Gel-Cool
5.
Fit & Fresh
6.
KidsKonserve
7.
Mimi the Sardine
8.
And many more!!!!!
Please contact (Name of Green Team Champion) if you have any questions, comments, or interest in becoming involved with the Green Team.