Waste-Free Lunches: Links

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Links to Other Waste-free Lunch Sites

If you have a waste-free lunch site that you think we should link to, please contact us at info@wastefreelunches.org.

Visit www.virtualrecycling.com for more information on waste-free lunch programs in Manitoba.

If you're looking for classroom activities, letters to teachers, information on precycling, reducing, reusing, and recycling, check out http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/wmi/TrashGoestoSchool/TrashIntro.html.

The Environmental Forum of Marin in Marin County, California provides lunch waste facts at www.globalstewards.org.

You can download a waste-free lunch flyer at www.marinefm.org/waste-free-month-2002.html.

For information on how Minnesota schools are reducing waste, click on this link: http://www.moea.state.mn.us/campaign/school/index.html.

For some great classroom activities being used in King County, Washington, try this link: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/schoolpr/schoolpg.htm.

For a school waste reduction survey provided by the Recycling Council Of Ontario, check out http://www.rco.on.ca. Click on "events," then "Waste Minimization Awards" and then "3Rs Survey.

If you're looking for information on how to reduce waste on college and university campuses, click here.

Rethinking Recycling - An Oregon Waste Reduction Curriculum, contains activities and lesson plans for students in grades K-5. The lessons can be used separately or as a unit. Many of the lessons satisfy Oregon's new Common Curriculum Goals and Benchmarks. For a flyer specifically related to waste-free lunches, check out http://www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/rethinkrecyc/resources/RRTRes10.pdf.

Raven Recycling in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada is doing great work with schools in their area. Click here to visit their site--or click here to read about their garbage-free lunch contests.

To find out what Be Smart is doing in southeast Wisconsin click here.

For information on trash audits, tools for becoming more resource efficient, and more, check out Oregon Green Schools at http://www.oregongreenschools.org.

If you are looking for teacher resources related to packing waste-free lunches and other earth-friendly topics, check out www.hardbargainfarm.org/educationmainframe.html

The San Mateo County California Recycleworks Web site at www.recycleworks.org provides teachers, students, and parents with information on packing a no waste lunch. They also provide excellent information on worm composting and starting a composting program.

Resourcefulschools.org, the Web site of the Saint Louis County Resourceful Schools Project (RSP), is a collaboration between Cooperating School Districts and Saint Louis County Department of Health to support reducing, reusing and recycling in both schools and communities. They provide waste-free lunch guidelines and information on promoting waste-free lunches. They're also hoping to offer visitors the opportunity to design their own waste-free lunch Web site.

If you're looking for creative environmental activities for kids, visit childrenoftheearth.org. Their aim is to educate the general public on eco-logical concepts and to provide a forum for people to share their knowledge and ideas with each other.

The Green Flag Program (www.greenflagschools.org) is a new initiative of the national Child Proofing Our Communities campaign, coordinated by the Center for Health Environment and Justice. The program is designed to help communities make their schools healthier places to learn, and to educate students about environmental responsibility. The program works with students and adults to research problems and find solutions and promote alternatives by educating peers and advocating positive policy changes in the school. The four areas they focus on are integrated pest management, non-toxic products, indoor air quality, and reduce, reuse, recycle.

Visit www.nrdc.org/greensquad for an animated tour designed to help visitors make their schools greener and healthier. Students can move through a virtual school to look for ways to improve the school environment. Progress reports are also included.

At www.fergusonfoundation.org/maintrashframe.html you'll find lunch trash data, a trash-free lunch game, information on decomposition and the 3 R's, a trash sorting activity, and a recycle quiz.

Visit www.recycle.utoledo.edu/ktlcb/Educationalmaterials/pack2reduce.html if you're looking for waste-free lunch materials for grades 4 - 6 and more!

The Public School Resource Conservation Program (PSRCP) for Santa Cruz County, CA is an innovative, collaborative, award-winning program which promotes environmental stewardship, on-campus recycling, composting and reducing / reusing programs at Santa Cruz County schools. It is a joint program of Ecology Action, Life Lab Science Program, and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. Visit their site at www.wastefreeschools.org.

To learn more about worm composting or to order worm composting supplies, visit www.wormwoman.com.

To learn more about waste reduction opportunities or to order a waste reduction activity kit, visit ecocycle at www.ecocycle.org.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's resource guide, Creating Healthy Environments Through Resource Efficiency, is available at www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/documents/schtools.pdf.

Visit the Environmental Education for Kids, Recycling and Beyond Web site at http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/recycle for activities and games related to worm composting, waste reduction and more .

Below is a link to a report on a project that has been bringing farm fresh produce into Los Angeles USD classrooms for use in educational activities. Fresh from the Farm is a pilot project of the Center for Food and Justice, Tierra Miguel Farm and the LAUSD Nutrition Network, and is now in the second year of operation.

"Fresh From the Farm and Into the Classroom" Report http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/cfj/ReportFINAL.pdf

Links to Other Sites

If you're looking for a magazine with in-depth coverage of environmental issues and earth-friendly products, consider subscribing to E/The Environmental Magazine at www.emagazine.com.

Energy snack food should be convenient and simple, but fresh is best. Are you tired of opening (and throwing away) another wrapper-- to eat a humdrum snack with an 11-month shelf life? Matisse and Jack's mixes are made with whole foods like oats, flax-seed, nuts and dried fruits, with no refined flours...and they taste great too. Check out their site at www.MatisseAndJacks.com.

Do you have something you'd like to give away? Are you looking for something that someone else might be giving away? If so, visit www.ThrowPlace.com. At ThrowPlace.com businesses and individuals can list excess possessions that they might ordinarily throw away. Charities, businesses and individuals can search the site for items that they need. Items on this site are given away, not sold. It's a great way to keep stuff out of the landfill and fill the needs of others!

Rethinking School Lunch (RSL) is a comprehensive resource that explores an innovative vision: School lunch as part of an integrated curriculum using local food systems as a context for learning, while restoring the connection of farms to communities, meals to culture, and health to our children and environment. Using a systems approach, the Center for Ecoliteracy spent five years researching the elements vital to achieving this vision. Visit their site at http://www.ecoliteracy.org/rethinking/rsl.html .

GreenMatters is the busy person's center for environmental change. Their goal is to take the difficulty and guesswork out of living greener by making it faster and simpler for you to get answers, respond to action alerts, learn eco-tips, and find earth friendly products. Check out their informative site at http://www.greenmatters.com .

Children's Web Site Encourages Creative Reuse and Recycling

Listed by the American Library Association as one of the best online resources for kids, The Imagination Factory at www.kid-at-art.com shows visitors how to make art using materials most people throw away. Some of the activities include drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, papier-mâché, marbling and crafts, and a special section for holiday art and crafts is featured. A Trash Matcher helps visitors find appropriate art activities for the solid waste they have available, and a feature called the Badge Matcher allows Brownies, Girl Scouts and their leaders to quickly locate art activities that help satisfy badge requirements. Recently added is the Project Matcher, which is designed to match many of the site's activities with 4-H projects and those carried out for school social studies and science fairs. Trashasaurus Rex, a giant dinosaur made of solid waste, heads the site's Public Relations Department, and there are numerous links to other art and environmental sites in the Research and Development Department. A discussion of landfills is located in the Education Department, and it's linked to Trash a Pizza! The activity shows visitors how to make a papier-mâché model of a pizza with solid waste toppings. The pizza is divided into nine segments or categories, and the toppings or trash are reflective of the composition of American landfills.

Visit Eco-Portal (http://www.EnvironmentalSustainability.Info) - an information gateway empowering the movement for environmental sustainability. You'll find a search engine, links to sites and news, blogs, action alerts, discussion groups and more.

At Avant-Gardening: Creative Organic Gardening (http://www.avant-gardening.com) you'll learn about using sustainable organic gardening as a medium for creative expression and spiritual growth. They also have extensive sustainable organic gardening information, workshops, monthly newsletter
Formal Tea Gardens, virtual tours, links/resources, and more!

Energy and Water Solutions Pty Ltd. (EWS), http://www.energyandwatersolutions.com.au, was established in 1996. Their objective is to help prevent damage to the environment by helping businesses and homeowners develop practical ways of saving energy and water and reducing waste. By reducing energy and water consumption, businesses can cut costs and increase profits, while reducing greenhouse gases and preserving resources.

Are you working to promote resource conservation at work, home, or school? Check out the large selection of posters, decals, displays and handouts available at http://www.marketingsolutionsandconservation.com. Categories include air, water, energy, safety, and more.

Visit http://www.container-recycling.org to find out how many beverage bottles and cans have been trashed so far this year. Get the tools you need to pass a bottle bill in your state at http://www.toolkit.container-recycling.org and download a recycling play for elementary school students to perform. (http://www.container-recycling.org/kids.htm)

Author Jennifer Keats Curtis wants to help bring children closer to the animals in their own backyards. By diligently researching her topic and interviewing real experts, including children working to help preserve and protect local wildlife, the former journalist has developed a knack for teaching young children about important ecological issues and what they can do to help. For more information, visit her Web site at www.ospreybook.com.