Litter free living Schools

Our goal is to help you work towards litter free lunches as well as raise money for your school. We aim to provide your community with the resources which will make litter free lunches simple.

On average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates three pieces of litter per day, which equates to 30 kg of waste per year. This works out to be 15 tonnes of waste produced by a school of 500 students each year from lunch boxes alone!

Benefits of litter free school lunches include:

• Students eating healthier lunches, as they are being provided with less pre-packaged ‘gimmicky’ snack foods and more fresh food in appropriate amounts.
• Less waste being produced and sent to landfill.
• Cheaper lunches, as food items bought in bulk are less expensive than pre-packaged products.
• A reduction in waste collection and disposal costs to the school, as less waste is being generated by the school community.
• Providing students with a practical example of how simple behaviour change can easily address a widespread environmental issue.
• Promotion of environmental stewardship and advocacy within the school.

How to start a litter free lunch

• Start small; select one day a week for a litter free lunch day i.e. Waste Free Wednesday.
• Sign your school up for the Litter Free Living fundraiser online. Funds raised can go towards litter free lunch rewards or for other sustainable projects at your school.
• Once signed up Litter Free Living will provide you with information to go in your newsletter helping you to inform parents about your fundraiser and giving them a simple solution for litter free lunches.
• Any waste brought to school on your litter free lunch day just simply ask the students to take it home with them.
• Once your litter free lunch day is established start thinking big. Some schools have opted to make every day a litter free lunch and have even removed all bins from the school yard. Any litter bought to school is simply returned home inside the students’ lunch box.