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Food waste

Preventing food waste from school lunchboxes

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Cut lunchbox food waste with practical tips that help kids eat what’s packed—making a positive impact and reducing waste to landfill.

Preparing school lunchboxes is part of the daily routine for parents and carers with school-aged kids. However, if food is uneaten it can contribute to household and school food waste. This blog provides tips to prevent avoidable food waste from lunchboxes.

Prevent waste

  • Involve your kids in preparing their lunch.
    • Get them involved in choosing new lunchbox ingredients. Give them two options and let them pick one. They will be more likely to eat food they have chosen.
    • Get your kids to help prepare their lunchboxes each morning or seek their 'okay' before packing their lunchbox.
  • Cut up fruit and vegetables, rather than including whole pieces.
  • Get the quantity right. Pack the right amount of food for breaks and lunch.
  • Involve the family. Learn about healthy eating and reducing food waste at home with activities from OzHarvest's FEAST at Home program.
  • Get your school involved to inspire kids to eat healthy and waste less with OzHarvest's FEAST at Home program.

Reuse

  • After school, encourage your kids to eat any leftovers in their lunchbox first before offering an afternoon snack.
  • Give vegetables a new life. When carrots have gone soft, place them in water to freshen them up. They make a great lunchbox snack.
  • Butter frozen bread straight from the freezer and sandwich it together with your kid's favourite fillings.
  • Make frozen yoghurt to prolong its shelf life. Take it from the freezer in the morning and it will remain cold for lunchtime.
  • Reuse leftovers from dinner in the lunchbox. Leftover pasta can make a great alternative to a sandwich.
  • Bottle your own drinks. Reusable water bottles are better for drinks than boxed juice.

Recycle

  • Feed leftovers to pets if it is safe to do so. Check the RSPCA web guides on feeding animals.
  • Compost leftovers. If there are any food scraps left in the lunchbox (e.g. apple cores, banana peels), place them in your home composting system.

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