Waste-Free Lunch Week
by Robyn Siegelman, teacher, 
Nassakeag Elementary School ~ Setauket, New York

In honor of Earth Day, our school institutes a "Waste-Free Lunch Week" during the week of Earth Day. Besides making a difference, this easy-to-implement activity is a very effective way to bring awareness to the amount of garbage we consume.

The following is the text used in a flier that is distributed to our entire school. Create a document using your word processing software. Then copy, paste and appropriately edit this text to accommodate your class and school.

For information on Waste Free Lunch Programs visit
 www.wastefreelunches.org

In honor of Nassakeag's "Earth Week"  we are encouraging students and staff to reduce the amount of garbage they dispose of.

During the entire week, please bring a WASTE-FREE LUNCH!

Instead of a: paper bag ziplock bag/aluminum foil drink box plastic spoon

Bring a: reusable lunch sack Tupperware for sandwich/snack thermos metal spoon

The lunch service will also be supporting this effort by using silverware instead of plastic utensils for the week.

We will be weighing the garbage before and after
WASTE-FREE LUNCH WEEK

Ms. Siegleman's third grade class calculated that if every child in Nassakeag school threw away one plastic bag every day, we would pollute our earth with: 3,600 in one week; 14,400 in one month; and 129,600 on one year!

Mrs. Sommer's kindergarten class tried to see how many times they could use the same brown bag for snack.  Some children used their bags more than 24 times.  If everyone in class did this, we would save 456 bags!

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE !