Sustainable Packed Lunch

Source:

Secret lives of raised Peat Bogs (Scottish Wildlife Trust)

Time

10-20 minutes

You will need

• Packed lunches

Did you know?

• Around 14 million glass bottles and jars are sent to landfill in the UK every day. Recycling just one saves the equivalent energy to power a computer for 20 minutes.
• The waste that we produce is still increasing by about 2% per year.
• The average person in the UK throws away their own weight in waste every 7 weeks!

Before the activity

Discuss the concept of a 'Sustainable Packed Lunch' Have a brainstorming session and draw up a list of all the components that will need to be considered. There is a list in the downloads section to help. Remember that the best way to reduce rubbish is not to make it in the first place. Before going out on your visit, send information home to the parents about the sustainable packed lunch challenge and the ideas that the children have considered. Aim to take low-impact or sustainable pack lunches on your planned trip out.

The activity

After lunch is finished, separate all the waste into recyclables, compostables and non-recyclables. Take the waste back to the classroom in the 3 bags. Discuss the fact that although some items may be compostable or recyclable, they might all be thrown in the bin (go to landfill) normally.

Weigh the different groups of items and ask the children to present the data as a bar chart. Calculate the percentage of the total waste which would go to landfill if you hadn't recycled or composted it. Calculate the percentage that would still go to landfill. Discuss the findings.

Was there much food wasted? Find out about 'waste facts' for the average person in Scotland, using the Waste Aware Scotland web site. For example, about a third of the food we buy is thrown in the bin, over £800 million worth of food is wasted in Scotland every year, an average of £366 per household.
 

Suggested follow up

• Do a study of food miles and the benefits of trying to buy local produce
• Do a study of how to reduce packaging when shopping
• Find out whether the pupils believe their actions are important and can make a difference.  
  

Downloads

• Sustainable Packed Lunch - suggestions to consider
• Low-impact packed lunches
  

Additional Information

• Sort-it - guide to what you can recycle, and where in Scotland you can recycle these items
• Waste Aware Scotland - waste facts and figures and reduce, reuse and recycling information and ideas
  

Curriculum Links

• Health and well-being - main
• Mathematics - main

Age Range

2, 3,4