Greening your Lunch
Slim down your lunch box by cutting out the waste
Waste Free Lunch
Whether you are at school or work, lunchtime is the perfect time to impress your friends and workmates with your waste reduction skills (reduce, reuse, recycle). Small changes to your lunch routine can make a big difference to your rubbish bin i.e. reusable containers to keep your sandwiches fresh, refilling your water bottle with fresh water rather than buying a new bottle every time.
13 Secrets to Greening your Lunch
Here are the 13 easy steps to greening your lunch, these tips will help you reduce your waste, save you money and help the environment:
Before
Plan ahead and make a shopping list for the weeks lunches
Buy loose fruit and vegetables (save yourself the unnecessary packaging)
Buy products with recyclable packaging i.e. tinned fruit, refillable water bottles
Buy in bulk and redistribute into reusable containers and 'snaplock' bags i.e. Family sized bag of potato chips instead of multi-packs, block of cheese instead of cheese slices, 1-litre tub of yoghurt instead of individual pottles
Store bought baking maybe easier on the kitchen but it is hard on the rubbish bin. Home baking always tastes good, it is an activity that can involve the whole family and it means less plastic packaging
Packing your Lunch
Think Nude Food. Pack your lunch in reusable, re-sealable bags or containers. Ice-cream containers and bread bags make great lunch boxes
If you need to wrap your food, use paper instead of clean-film (gladwrap). Paper can be recycled in your compost bin.
Use a refillable drink bottle
Be a Mug - say no to polystyrene cups and bring along your own 'bigger' mug for smoko-breaks
Got leftovers from tea? Reheat these in a heat-proof dish/container and instead of using disposable cutlery, bring along your own normal knives and forks.
After
Place any leftovers back into your lunch container, take it home and have it tomorrow
Food scraps can go straight into the nearest compost bin, worm farm or bokashi system (if you do not have a compost bin at school or work, take it home to your bin)
Wash and keep any reusable food containers/bags for tomorrow's lunch
What more can I do?
There are many simple things you can do to reduce rubbish at home, at work or at school:
- Discover the secrets of getting more life out of your rubbish
- 10 top tips for Sustainable living
- Recycle all that you can
- Shopping tips to help you save money and reduce waste
