Why Pack Waste-Free? 

Did you know that every school lunch creates an average 


of 67 pounds of trash per school year? That means, just one


average-size middle school creates over 40,000 pounds of


lunch waste a year! By reducing the number of items in your


lunch that must be thrown out, or only using those that can


be eaten, reused, recycled, or composted, you can:


Prevent pollution 

Conserve natural resources such as coal, oil, natural gas,


and trees 


Save energy 

What You Can Do to Help: Reduce the need for disposal 

Be an environmental steward and make 

a difference in your environment and Reduce ● Reuse ● Recycle 

the environment of the future 

Remember: Everything in a waste-free lunch can be eaten,

reused, recycled, or composted. Also, remember to keep foods

Make Today and Every Day a Waste-Free Lunch Day

Get the Ball Rolling—Organize a Waste-Free Lunch Day! 

1. Plan a Waste-Free Lunch Day. Before holding a Waste-Free Lunch Day 

at school, check to see if cafeteria space will be available. Work with 

the school administrators, custodians, and cafeteria staff to arrange for 

the proper recycling and disposal services for the waste-free lunch. 

Make sure they schedule a pick-up time on the day of the event. A 

week before the event, send home flyers or checklists with tips on how 

to pack waste-free, along with sample menus. 

2. Get the Message Out! Before the Waste-Free Lunch Day, educate students and teachers about the event. Students can make their own 

waste-free lunch posters in art class, or an announcement can be made 

over the school intercom system. Use the school newsletter to educate 

parents about the event and how they can help. 

3.	 Have a Waste-Free Lunch Day. On the Waste-Free Lunch Day, have 

each student and teacher bring in a waste-free lunch (or as close to 

waste-free as possible). Work with the school cafeteria staff to plan a 

“waste-free lunch” for students who don’t bring in their own from 

home. During the school-wide waste-free lunch, have students and 

teachers share how they made their lunches waste-free. 

4. Don’t Stop Here. While planning the Waste-Free Lunch Day, work 

together with school administrators, teachers, support staff, and community public health services to put leftovers to good use: 

Where to Recycle

Does your school have a recycling program? If so, it will be easy 

for you to recycle materials such as soda cans, plastic bottles, and 

glass jars from your lunches—just put them in the proper receptacles. If your school does not have a recycling program, but one 

is set up in your community, bring home the recyclable materials 

from your lunch and put them with your recyclables at home. If a 

recycling program is not available at your home or school, contact your state, municipal, or county solid waste management 

agency to find out what you can do to get a recycling program 

started in your community or hold a one-time recycling event. 

When a community recycling program is set up, talk to your principal about starting a program at your school. Until the recycling 

programs are in place, try your best to include items in your 

waste-free lunch that do not need any packaging, or only use 

Reduce food waste: Feed hungry people with unspoiled, wholesome 

food. Donate this food to local food banks, soup kitchens, and shelters. 

Provide food to animal farmers or zoos: Farmers and zookeepers can 

feed their animals with leftover food. 

Compost food to fertilize plants: Composting is a good way to convert 

food scraps that cannot be fed to people or animals into a valuable 

nutrient source for plants and soil organisms. For school environments, 

worm composting, also known as vermiculture or vermicomposting, 

may be the best method to use. Composting on a large scale is a complicated task. Please work together with local solid waste and health 

authorities if you would like to undertake such a task. 

5. Measure Success. Use the charts to the right to determine the success 

of the Waste-Free Lunch Day. Make note of the items included in each 

lunch before the Waste-Free Lunch Day to be able to compare the success of the day. 

6. Share Your Story! Help others join the waste-free lunch craze by sharing your success story! E-mail your story and pictures from your WasteFree Lunch Day to EPA at rcc-challenge@epa.gov. In your email, include 

your name, your school’s name, an explanation of what you did to make 

your Waste-Free Lunch Day a success, and any photos you would like 

posted on the EPA Web site. Photos should be at least 5 inches by 7 

inches and 72 dots per inch. Make sure you have your school’s permission before sending photos to be posted on the EPA Web site. 

Reduce unnecessary packaging and food

waste. Buy juice, crackers,

and cookies, for example,

in bulk so you bring only

what you can eat in

reusable containers.

Resources 

Waste-Free Lunch Day Did You Pack a Waste-Free Lunch?

Name: _____________________________________________________________________ 

Use this worksheet to compare which items in your lunch were reusable, recyclable, 

compostable, or waste before and after your Waste-Free Lunch Day. The goal is to have 

the majority of the leftover items from your lunch in the first three columns, and have as 

few items as possible in the waste column. 

Before Waste-Free Lunch Day 

Reusables Recyclables Compostables Waste 

Ex. 1 plastic container	 packaging for cookies, 


1 banana peel, 1 soda can


Totals: 

Waste-Free Lunch Day 

Reusables Recyclables Compostables Waste 

Ex. 1 plastic container, 1 soda can 	 1 banana peel 

1 plastic baggie from 

cookies 

Totals: 

Did You Pack Less Waste? 

Compare your findings from your lunch before Waste-Free Lunch Day to those you collect on 

Waste-Free Lunch Day.

Add It Up! 

See how much waste you would avoid if you packed waste-free every day! 

After one week, how many waste items would you avoid if you packed waste-free every day? 

_____ (Hint, multiply the number of waste items avoided in one day by the number of days you 

attend school during the week.) 

After one month, how many waste items would you avoid if you packed waste-free every day? 

_____ (Hint, multiply the number of waste items avoided during one week by the number of 

weeks you attend school during one month.) 

After one year, how many waste items would you avoid if you packed waste-free every day? 

_____ (Hint, multiply the number of waste items avoided during one month by the number of 

months you attend school during one year.) 

Wow! You could reduce ______ items of waste in one year if you packed waste-free every day! 

Just imagine how many resources you could be conserving! 

Solid Waste and Emergency Response 

(5305W) 

EPA-530-H-05-002 

www.epa.gov/osw 

January 2006 

Recycled/Recyclable—Printed with vegetable oil based inks on 100% postconsumer, process chlorine free recycled paper. 

that need to be refrigerated cold using a reusable, insulated packaging that can be reused. 

lunch box or bag or including a reusable ice pack in your lunch. 

Pack Waste-Free and Healthy 

Use the examples from Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to create your own waste-free and healthy lunch 

menus for Thursday and Friday. You can pack sandwiches, leftovers from dinner, fruits, veggies, juice, or 

anything that you think is healthy and waste-free. If you put items that need to be refrigerated in your lunch, 

such as mayonnaise, cold cuts, or cheese, be sure to include a reusable ice pack in your lunch box or bag. 

Make sure to pack only what you can eat, reuse, recycle, or compost. 

For more information on waste-free lunches, check out 

the following resources: 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pack 

a Waste-Free Lunch 

www.epa.gov/epaoswer/education/lunch.htm 

Provides additional information on packing waste-free 

lunches, including a sample letter to send home to 

parents and printable versions of the activities on the 

back of this poster. 

Waste-Free Lunches 

www.wastefreelunches.org 

Provides information on how to participate in or start a 

waste-free lunch program. 

Laptop Lunches 

www.laptoplunches.com


Tools to get more nutrition and less waste from lunch. 


Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance 

www.moea.state.mn.us/campaign/school/index.html 

Information and success stories on reducing waste that 

can be applied to other schools. 

Tips for a Waste-Less School Year 

www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/specials/funfacts/school.htm 

Offers a number of ideas for creating less waste. 

U.S. Composting Council 

www.compostingcouncil.org/index.cfm 

Provides a unified voice for the growing composting 

industry. This site features links to numerous publications 

and other Web sites that focus on composting. 

Reuse + Recycling = Waste Reduction: 

A Guide for Schools and Groups 

www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/students/school.pdf 

A step-by-step how-to guide for setting up a waste 

reduction program in schools. 

Feeding the Hungry and Reducing Solid Waste 

Through Food Recovery 

www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/reduce/wast_not.pdf 

This document by the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains 

how to start a Waste Not Want Not program at school. 

American Forest & Paper Association 

www.afandpa.org 

Shares information, including environmental policies and 

recycling initiatives, about forest products such as paper 

and wood.