In recognition of Earth Day, the
Middle School Eco Team encouraged the entire school to participate in a
Zero Waste Lunch Challenge on Friday, April 21st.
The goal was to ensure that lunches have nothing that has to go into the trash. Everything must be eaten, taken home, composted, or recycled! Here are some tips:
- Only include the type and amount of food that your child will eat
- No single-use plastic wrapping, bottles, or containers
- No single-use cutlery
- No delivered meals
6th Grade
The 6th graders spent all week planning and creating an amazing Around the World lunch. The core of the lesson was practicing the skills of grace and courtesy, making group decisions, planning, and flexibility. Planning started Monday when students developed a theme, researched recipes to develop a menu, and created timelines for the kitchen. On Tuesday students inventoried materials, created lists of needed items and ingredients, and created the menu and decor. Wednesday they finalized their shopping list and Thursday they took a trip to Trader Joe’s to shop. On Friday, they spent the day in the kitchen cooking all sorts of delicious treats. Finally, they sat down together to enjoy the fruits of their labors!
Toddler
Even our youngest students participated and even composted their banana peels!
Primary
Since Zero Waste Day, Primary children have been more aware of waste. As an example: One class has been reading a chapter book during circle time and they have been using a piece of paper from the classroom as a bookmark. The only problem is that we keep losing the bookmark and using a new piece of paper each time! One particular kindergartener pointed out that we really are wasting paper; he proceeded to offer a solution – a bookmark that could be hooked to the first page so that we couldn’t lose it. The next day, he proudly presented a homemade bookmark that he had carefully and thoughtfully created at home – decorated with bears since we have been reading about them and protected with tape so it would last forever!
It’s truly a joy to see the impact we are making when we bring awareness to reducing our waste and protecting our planet through circle time discussions, presentations from the Middle Schoolers and the challenge of a Zero Waste Day!
Elementary
Elementary children did a great job in the challenge with nearly 100%. They were excited to participate and learned why it was important to limit waste and how we can improve!
