Waste-full Lunch. Pack. Norfolk County Council at your service. Top tips for a waste-free lunch. Activity Outline

Transcription

1 Waste-free Lunch Pack Activity Outline Waste-free Lunch Top tips for a waste-free lunch The aim of this practical activity is to increase pupils awareness of the issue of over-packaging and emphasise the value of reuse. The pupils take part in a series of activities which lead up to a planned day when they are all challenged to bring a waste-free lunch to school. Waste-full Lunch Buy biscuits in bulk rather than in individual wrappers Cut up cheese, fruit and vegetables into sticks Put sandwiches in a tub instead of using cling film or foil Bring drinks in reusable bottles Eat fruit for snacks and the leftovers can be composted Norfolk County Council at your service

2 Teacher s notes Aims Pupils will: Recognise that many snack foods have a lot of packaging, much of which is not easily recycled Work co-operatively in groups and share ideas to plan a waste-free lunch Produce posters or leaflets to educate parents and other pupils Learning outcome Pupils can identify items of food suitable for a waste-free lunch and suggest ways of avoiding waste from packaging. National curriculum links Geography Environmental change and sustainable development Science Materials, healthy eating English Writing, speaking and listening PSHE Healthy lifestyles, caring for the environment Preparation and resources You will need to prepare: A waste-full lunch (e.g. disposable drinks carton, sandwich wrapped in plastic bag or cling film, fruity snack wrapper, small raisin box, individual biscuit wrapper, crisp packet, small yoghurt pot) A waste-free lunch (e.g. drink in reusable bottle, sandwiches in reusable containers, fruit, vegetable sticks, home-made cake, nuts or dried fruit in reusable containers) Other resources: Extra examples of waste-free and waste-full lunch items Materials for making posters Access to computer to write letters or make leaflets for parents

3 Delivery 1: Finding out how much rubbish a waste-full lunch produces After lunch on a typical day let the children count all the items of rubbish left in their lunchboxes. Collect it all and weigh it (do not count leftover fruit and vegetable waste as this can be composted). Children who had hot dinners should put any leftovers from their plates into a separate bucket, which will also be weighed (remember to pre-weigh the bucket). Do not include kitchen leftovers as these have not been wasted by the children. 2: Planning the waste-free lunch Introduction: Tell the children a little story about how you overslept and did not have time to prepare your own lunch so you had to buy some. Show them what you bought ( waste-full lunch). How many pieces of rubbish are left at the end of your lunch? Then show them waste-free equivalents that you normally have for lunch reusable containers and bottles. Challenge them to a waste-free lunch; items that can be composted e.g. fruit and paper towels are fine. Class activities: Divide the class into small groups and think of some ideas for a waste-free lunch. This will help parents and other school children know what they can bring on a waste-free lunch day. Please see the top tips on the front cover for some ideas. Write a letter or make a leaflet for parents which gives some suggestions of what they can put in their children s waste-free lunch boxes. Please see the example letter and leaflet on the back cover. Optional activities: Let the children have a lucky dip into a bag containing items with different packaging they then have to decide if an item is suitable for a waste-free lunch or not. Extend them by asking for reasons why they cannot include it, e.g. aluminium although it can be recycled, it is a finite resource. Challenge them to suggest acceptable alternatives. Draw posters to promote the idea to the other children Give an assembly presentation to the rest of the school on what a waste-free lunch is all about

4 3: The waste-free lunch day This should be held at least a week after the exercises in class. At lunchtime on the waste-free lunch day, let the children count all the pieces of rubbish that they have left in their lunchboxes. Collect the rubbish and weigh it (leftover fruit and vegetable waste does not count as this can be composted). Again, children who had hot dinners should put their leftovers into a separate bucket, which will be weighed. Do not include kitchen leftovers. 4: Conclusion Compare the two sets of results and present them to the school. The school as a whole should have reduced its lunchtime waste. A photocopiable certificate is included on the back of this leaflet for those children who have successfully achieved a waste-free lunch. Risk Assessment Hazard potential for harm 1. Equipment and resources Examples of waste-full and waste-free packaging sharp edges and contaminated waste Food preparation at home cuts from knives 2. Slips, trips and falls Food dropped on floor eg. banana skins 3. Personal attack/verbal abuse Who s at risk? Teachers Pupils Pupils Teachers Pupils Risk level Angry families Teachers L 4. Biohazards L M M Precautions to reduce the risk level Remove or tape over any sharp edges or points on waste items Check regularly and replace items where sharp edges or points have developed. Ensure all waste is thoroughly cleaned Safety talk to pupils when planning lunch Parental support and supervision Ensure food is picked up promptly if dropped Ideally collect all compostable waste and compost it Involve families in planning the activity as much as possible Provide families with Top Tips to help with ideas Food contamination and contact with waste Teachers L Wash hands before and after lunch Ensure containers are used to maintain food hygiene Why not run the waste-free lunch as a regular event and reduce your waste forever!

5 Example letter to parents Dear Parents and Guardians, We are organising a Waste-free Lunch on and would like your help! On that day please could you help your child to bring in a packed lunch with no packaging, or as little as possible? Fresh fruit and vegetable sticks are great as they provide a healthy snack and any waste can be composted. Many items, such as raisins, cheese, crisps and biscuits can be bought in larger packs and a few put into a reusable container to reduce waste. Top tips for preparing a waste-free lunch: Use a tub for their sandwiches Avoid cling film and foil because they cannot be reused easily Put their drink in a reusable bottle instead of using an individual carton or foil pouch Yoghurts buy a large one and spoon some into a refillable pot Put all your fruit peelings into the compost bin We are looking forward to our Waste-free lunch and hope you will be able to help us with this project. Thank you for your support As part of our work on improving the environment, our school will be having a special waste-free lunch. Norwich Road School For more details on how to reduce your waste in your school please contact: : swac@norfolk.gov.uk : : Dear everybody On Wednesday 7 November we will have a waste-free lunch day. Please help your child to bring a waste-free lunch on that day. There will be a certificate for all children who successfully reduce the amount of waste in their lunchbox. Children who have hot dinners will take part in this too they will need to try really hard to eat everything on their plates so there is no waste to throw away. Thank you for your support. Thank you for helping us 1. Have fruit/salad/ vegetable sticks 2. Have popcorn in a container instead of crisps 3. Use refillable bottles for water or juice 4. Get a large block of cheese and cut it into smaller sticks 5. Buy a large packet of biscuits and put some in a tub 6. Have a piece of cake in a tub or wrap it in kitchen roll 7. Put sandwiches into a tub or wrap in kitchen roll 8. Yoghurts buy large and put some into a reusable tub 9. Crisps buy a large bag and put some in a pot 10. Instead of mini packs of raisins buy a large bag and put a few into a small reusable container. * Margarine tubs make really good small containers * Wednesday 7 November Example Leaflet If you need this leaflet in large print, audio, Braille, alternative format or a different language please call or minicom and we will do our best to help. G26443 April 2012

6 Certificate This certificate is awarded to For successfully achieving a Waste-free Lunch on Well done! Norfolk County Council at your service