I’m talking lunchbox rubbish today. The left overs from the average school lunchbox.
This post has been brewing in my brain for a while. I first started thinking about it when our 10yo daughter got really upset watching the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games. The message about climate change came through loud and clear. She could hardly watch it. She instantly wanted to know what we can do about it. We spoke about the different ways we can ensure we are personally reducing our impact on the environment.
Not long after the Olympic Games awakening for her, we visited a Barrier Reef stall at Airlie Beach. There was a lot of information about the impacts our behaviour, as humans, is having on the Great Barrier Reef. Our sensitive soul again asked lots of questions. Later she drew and put this picture on her small bedroom wall in the bus.
Still I never got around to write a post. Then recently I was running The Mad Food Science Program™ at a school, and the facilities manager approached me. He said, “these kids really need to hear what you have to say. There is so much rubbish at this school.” So I asked him if I could interview him. This was the final push I needed. It’s why I’m talking lunchbox rubbish. Be sure to read his responses to the interview questions, because I was shocked by what I learnt. And please ensure you take a look at the 5 simple actions you can take to reduce your children’s lunchbox rubbish.
A Question For You
This is a genuine question, and I would love for you to comment below. When you pack your child’s lunchbox, are you thinking:
- of your child and the tasks you have to do to get out the door
- how their lunchbox will fuel their body and brain for the time they’re at school
- the impact the food in their lunchbox may have on their friends, peers in class or even the teacher
- whether the contents of the lunchbox will become rubbish and in turn, landfill?
To be brutally honest, when I started packing real food lunchboxes almost 6 years ago, my considerations of what went into my daughter’s lunchbox were only about her. It’s was only when I developed The Mad Food Science Program™ and started to run it regularly, did I really understand how the food I pack in her lunchbox can have a knock on impact to others. And I had never considered the rubbish and landfill as a consequence to the lunches I was packing. I mean, I wasn’t packing processed food or using plastic, so it wasn’t a concern. The truth is though, I never consciously thought oh wow, by packing this real food lunchbox, there is no rubbish going into landfill. What about you?
As parents, we have one thing in common. We always want to do the best by our children. However, sometimes this means thinking bigger than just our child. This includes when we pack their lunchboxes.
For today’s post, I want to explore the impact the food in lunchboxes has on the world our kids are growing up in.
Real Food And Rubbish
When I run my Mad Food Science Program™, I talk to the children about the natural brains in real food – fruits and vegetables. How they are so intelligent they have natural sugars for energy, fibre to slow down the use of that sugar, vitamins, minerals and more. How the different colours of fruits and vegetables help different parts of their body. And how there is always something you can do with the ‘leftovers’ or scraps from fruits and vegetables. You can compost them returning nutrients to the ground to grow more real food, you can feed them to the chooks, you can keep the scraps to make broth, you can use them to make great natural remedies, cleaning products and more.
If we’re smart, the real food we eat, can produce no rubbish. Fruits and vegetables help our bodies and can help the planet.
Processed Packaged Food And Rubbish
After talking to the children about real foods, we talk about the other food which we commonly eat – processed package food. We talk about how these foods are generally made, the lack of value our body gets from them, and we talk about what happens to the left overs of these packets. It’s the same at every school. The kids just think it goes into their rubbish bin and they don’t really think beyond that. We talk about where their rubbish goes – land fill – and how long that takes to break down. I ask the kids to think about what this means to world they are growing up in – what it means to the environment, what it means to the other creatures which walk this earth – to think beyond just themselves.
Processed packaged food ALWAYS creates rubbish.
Eating processed food rarely helps our bodies. We know too much consumption can negatively affect our health. But if we think about more than ourselves, the consumption of packaged food is also negatively impacting the environment – the very world our children are growing up in.
Lunchbox Rubbish
In Australia, I have been unable to find any meaningful study done on the average child’s lunchbox. From talking to teachers and what I see when visiting schools, it’s likely the average school lunchbox has at least 2 processed packaged foods in it. There was an investigative newspaper report done by a newspaper on a WA school which looked at the dangers of lunchbox food – and it revealed how wide spread processed food is in lunchboxes. It reported “Foods rated as no-go pro–ducts and “not every day” foods were found in all but two lunch boxes.”
It’s pretty safe to say the average lunchbox is creating rubbish.every.single.school.day.
The Interview – what’s a schools rubbish look like?
This information is from my interview with the facilities manager at one school with a campus of about 300 students. I can not say categorically whether this is reflective of majority of schools in Australia. However, based on the lunchboxes I see at schools, and what teachers tell me they see, it’s quite possible many schools are experiencing the same as this school.
I know there are definitely schools with incredible initiatives around recycling and composting which is awesome. What we do need to do, is ensure we are tackling the amount of packet foods in school lunchboxes because much of this packaging can not be recycled and composted. And whilst participating in a Nude Food Day is a fantastic start, it’s not likely to make a huge dent in school rubbish for the week or year.
How much rubbish do you collect a week?
“Usually about 2 skip bins full per week. Not overflowing but sufficiently full that they need to be emptied each week.”
The skip bins are one for recycle – boxes etc, the other for rubbish. A closer inspection showed the recycle one tended to be big boxes probably from deliveries to the school and the rubbish one was full of big black bags taken straight from the rubbish bins.
I asked him how much would it cost to remove these bins every week and he was unsure. I made a mental note to try and find this out (which I haven’t done yet).
What is the most common piece of rubbish you see?
“There are so many packets but probably the one which causes me the most concern is the little plastic wrappers from the straws of poppers. The kids rip them off to get the straw out, then drop them, the wind picks them up and they fly all around the school grounds.”
I had never even thought about this little straw wrapper as a piece of rubbish before. I just assumed it remained connected to the popper. I can so see how these would be a source of frustration to this man’s day.
I am going out on a limb here and saying poppers do not belong in a lunchbox.
Water is really the only drink our children need at school. Fruit Drink Poppers usually contain the equivalent of 4 pieces of fruit – that’s a straight injection of natural sugar without the fibre to slow down the use of the sugar. Flavoured milks are similar – a small amount of the natural sugar lactose, but a big hit of added sugar. Both are recipes for a sugar high and sugar crash (usually in the class room), as well as a recipe for rubbish.
What surprises you the most about the rubbish?
“The fact there is so much of it. Not just packets but real food too.”
Wow, I was shocked to hear this about the real food. I had to find out more. I asked how much of the food was packets compared to real food and his response totally shocked me.
“About half of the rubbish is actually real food. Half eaten wraps, whole pieces of fruit and half eaten fruit.”
Wow! Just wow! In total shock I asked why he felt this was the case.
“I think it’s a combination of factors but mostly because they don’t get enough time to eat anymore. There’s eating them, then there’s play time. When eating time is up (ie. bell rings), whatever is left gets thrown out. Then of course there’s the kids who don’t want to eat their real food because everyone else has packets.”
Another wow moment.
Lunchbox rubbish is more than just about what kids are eating, it’s about what they are not eating too.
Raising Rubbish Awareness
I felt grateful for this mans’ dedication to his job. The fact he approached me because he’s concerned is fantastic. He wants to see change. The questions is what can WE do about this?
I decided to test out his thoughts about the rubbish over the next 5 Mad Food Science Sessions I ran at the school’s 2 campuses. I incorporated the information into the classes. I spoke and asked questions about:
Do you know how much rubbish you make a week?
I asked the kids to imagine what that amount of rubbish would like for a year. Then what it would look like if it was piled on top of the other schools in the area. Faces scrunched up. The lights came on. I asked them to think about 1 packaged item they could go without out and to try doing that.
What happens when the eating bell goes?
This got mixed responses. Some children just closed their lunchbox lid, and went off to play. Others threw the contents away, then went off to play. A few children said they stayed til they finished eating their lunch.
Do you worry about what other kids think of your lunchbox food?
The overwhelming response was yes. I asked a few whether they would consider throwing out their lunch because of what other kids think, the answer was yes.
Boy oh boy, these responses makes me more determined than ever to transform children’s health, one lunchbox at a time.
5 Simple Actions You Can Take
It would be awesome if we could all take these 5 simple actions to help reduce lunchbox rubbish, and help make this world a better place for our kids to live in.
1. Talk to your kids about the bigger picture
It’s important we get our kids thinking about the bigger picture of the world. Start talking to them about the rubbish we create from the foods we eat. Ask them to think about the amount of rubbish their school would create. This is website Cool Australia is a fantastic resource you may want to look at with your kids. And this Waste Fact Sheet they developed has some pretty scary stats on it about Australia and our waste.
Children also really don’t like the idea of hurting animals, so you may also be interested in getting them to have a look around this awesome OceanCrusaders website. There is lots of great info about what our rubbish is doing to the waterways and the animals that live in it.
2. Make Lunchbox Food Fun and Easy To Eat
Have conversations about how important lunchbox food is to their growth and development. Ask your kids to help choose what fruit and vegetables, and mains they want in their lunchbox for the week. Make it fun by having lots of colour and cutting food different ways. Be sure to make the food so it’s finger food – this way it’s easier to eat, and hopefully can get eaten before the playtime bell goes. If you want help with how to create fun lunchboxes with plenty of finger foods, you may wish to check out The 5 Minute Healthy Lunchbox System eCourse.
3. Remove at least 1 packet from your child’s lunchbox
If you’re child is used to having a popper style drink, just tell your children you won’t be sending juice to school anymore. Water is all they need. But be sure to explain about those pesky plastic straw wrappers too. Or with the kids, read the ingredients of the packets you put in lunchboxes and choose at least 1 to remove and replace with real food.
4. Stop using plastic wrap and plastic bags
Purchase some great reusable zippered bags, and scrap using plastic wrap or zip lock bags. Litter Free Living have a great selection of colours and sizes. My suggestion is to talk to your kids about the importance of these bags to help save wildlife, and hence it is important for them to bring the bags home. Then get them to shop online with you to choose their designs and colour. Remember, these are an investment – they will save you money in the long term and help save the world our kids are growing up in too.
If you really want to keep buying processed foods, buy bigger packets of them, then break them down into these smaller reusable bags for school. Buying the bigger bags will also save you money. You pay for the convenience of having smaller lunchbox friendly packets.
5. Follow these steps for yourself
This is quite simply practice what you preach or role model what you want the kids to be doing.
A Statistic We All, Should NOT Be Proud Of
Australia is one of the highest producers of waste per head of population in the world, source: coolaustralia.org