No Waste Lunch - a Green, Healthy and Money-Saving Alternative
Packing
a No Waste Lunch is healthy eco-friendly and more economical
than buying
prepackaged food. The average disposable “brown
bag” lunch creates between 4–8 ounces of garbage everyday.
That can add up to as much as 100 pounds per year! Not only do
prepackaged and processed foods contain excess packaging, they
are also up to 25% more expensive. And with the alarming increase
of childhood obesity and diabetes, it’s more important
than ever to teach healthy eating habits, especially when bringing
your
own lunch can save you money too.
A No Waste Lunch differs from the conventional brown bag by eliminating
disposable paper and packaging. Everything is packed in reusable
containers, disposable paper is replaced with cloth, and disposable
cutlery is replaced with reusables.
As landfills across North America reach capacity, more and more
schools are working to educate students on the importance of the
other 3Rs: reduce, reuse recycle. And many are beginning to adopt
No Waste Lunch programs, since lunch refuse is one of the leading
sources of trash generated by schools.
The reduction of waste translates to savings in cleanup costs
and a reduction in CO2 emissions. In California, the California
Waste Free School (WFS) program has helped local schools to succeed
in diverting over 6928.4 tons of material from local landfills,
saving participating school districts approximately $413,518 to
date. http://www.wastefreeschools.org/PDF/away_waste.pdf
The basic steps to waste reduction as outlined by WFS are simply
translated:
• Reduce the amount of disposable waste you pack
• Pack Reusable products
• Recycle anything you have left over
As families begin back to school preparations, now is the perfect
time to incorporate No Waste lunch ideas to make a positive difference
for your health, the planet and your wallet.
Easy Tips for a No Waste Lunch
• Replace your disposable lunch bag with a reusable lunch
tote. When half of the stuff we throw away each day comes from
food waste and packaging, you’ll make a difference for
your health and your wallet by switching to reusables.
• Bring your drink in a BPA-free reusable bottle. It not
only reduces waste, it promotes good health since you’re
assured no toxins will leach into your drink. With an average
savings of $200 per year over disposable water bottle costs,
reusable bottles
are a safe and sensible solution.
• Eliminate
disposable foils, plastics and bags by replacing them with
reusable containers and sandwich wraps. Available
in a variety of materials, reusable containers come in a variety
of
shapes and sizes to fit most any size lunch tote. Buying food
in bulk is a great way to reduce packaging in general, and often
saves
money too.
• Choose
reusable cutlery as an alternative to disposable plastic, or
bring your
stainless steel cutlery from home. Reusable
cutlery is available in a variety of sustainable materials.
Stainless steel travels well when wrapped in a cloth napkin,
just rewrap
after use for easy cleanup at home.
• Cloth
Napkins are a money-saving, tree-free alternative to paper.
You can
green your kitchen and save an average of
$40 per year by eliminating disposable plastics from your shopping
list.
• Insulated
Thermos-type food and beverage containers keep foods and beverages
at the right temperature, so the soup
you made
over the weekend will stay warm enough for lunch. You may also
be surprised at the number of leftover meals that will suddenly
become lunch options with the right travel containers.
Save
15% off your order on Reusable Lunch Packing items at Nubius
Organics. Use coupon code: HIPPY Click here for this offer.
For more information:
Elizabeth Borelli, Nubius Organics
Phone: 888-600-7004
Email: Elizabeth@nubiusorganics.com
Web Site: www.nubiusorganics.com
