PITCH-IN CANADA
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Re-Think Activities
An educational Unit for children up to Grade 4
Written by Valerie Thom, B.Ed. and edited by Allard W. van Veen, APR, Fellow, CPRS

This unit has six chapters, each filled with information, ideas and projects. Words in bold and in italics are featured in the glossary which you can reach by clicking here

REUSING AND RECYCLING: ACTIVITY 9          ***The Garbageless Lunch                             1 – 3

Skills: measuring weight, measuring volume

Time: two class periods, one month apart

Learning Objective: students will examine their own contributions to the solid waste problem, specifically by examining the garbage remaining from their lunches; students will investigate ways of reducing and reusing the remains from their lunches.

NOTE: this Activity can be followed by REUSING AND RECYCLING: ACTIVITY 10, which discusses composting.

Materials and Equipment: all the garbage from the students’ lunches and recess snacks for three consecutive days collected in a special garbage container; newspapers; bathroom scale; box no larger than one cubic meter in volume (e.g. a vegetable shipping box); chart paper.

1. Review with the students what has been collected in the special garbage container.

2. Empty its contents into a plastic bag and weigh it. Record the weight onto a chart, labelled "BEFORE", with the date.

3. Push the plastic bag, still containing the garbage, into the box, filling the corners as much as possible, and flattening the bag so that it assumes, as closely as possible, the length and width of the box. Measure the length and width of the box, and the height of bag in the box. Use the measurements to compute the volume of the garbage collected. Record the volume onto the chart as well. Keep the records for comparison in one month.

4. Empty the contents of the bag onto newspapers on the floor. Review with students where this garbage came from, who produced it, etc.

5. Remove items from the pile to draw their attention to unnecessarily wasteful items such as non-recyclable wrappings and containers, etc. Also draw students’ attention to compostable items (clean fruit/vegetable remains); items that are recyclable in your community; items that could have been used again (plastic containers); etc.

6. Review why we should all try to reduce and recycle whenever possible. Challenge students to look at the remains before them to see if they can find ways to reduce and recycle their lunches. Some suggestions your students might want to consider if they don’t think of these themselves:

• Use a reusable lunch container rather than a disposable bag
• Use containers for sandwiches rather than disposable wrappings
• Avoid one-serving packaging: e.g. spoon yoghurt from a large container into reusable containers, use juice containers rather than disposable one-serving boxes
• Save vegetable scraps for a compost pile (See REUSING AND RECYCLING: ACTIVITY 10 for suggestions on how to start a school compost pile.)

7. Have students list and/or illustrate their suggestions on a class chart. Display the chart in the classroom, along with measurement chart, as reminders of the project.

8. With the students, draft a letter to the parents explaining the "Garbageless Lunch" project, and soliciting their cooperation. Include in the letter suggestions for the parents to follow when preparing their children’s lunches.

9. Repeat Steps 1-3 in one month. Compare the results. Have the students been successful in reducing the garbage produced at lunch? What else could be done?

Encourage the students to think of other situations where they could bring a garbageless lunch or snack:

• On a picnic
• At a ball game
• Attending a special event

Have students encourage their parents to "lug-a-mug" to events where beverages might be served.

Have students think of ways of encouraging the rest of the school to join in the "Garbageless Lunch" Project. Some suggestions include:

• Parents could be asked to sew reusable lunch bags out of sturdy fabric for sale as a school fundraiser
• Students could visit a local supermarket or hardware store to list the reusable food and beverage storage containers that are suitable for lunch use

Students could make a collection of containers found at home, such as yoghurt containers, that could be reused for lunches and put them on display for the rest of the school to see how easy it is to have a "garbageless lunch"

Click here to return to the Index for Chapter 5 and more activities

Click here to return to the Index for Re-Think