Bin-free schools a reality with nude food, compost and chook scraps
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NUDE FOOD: Navigator students Matilda Packer, Airlie Hartwich, Grace Hartley, Ruby Kidney and teacher Alexander Haynes show off their 'nude food' lunch boxes.
Two Port Lincoln schools are starting waste education at a young age by looking at lunch boxes with a vision to no longer require waste bins in the school yard.
Navigator College teacher Alexander Haynes organises “nude food days” for the school where children and parents are encouraged to not pack disposable plastics.
The students are encouraged to use alfoil and paper instead of plastics because, unlike plastic, the alfoil and paper can be recycled.
“Nude food day is trying to let everyone know plastic is bad for the environment and trying to reduce plastic,” year 3 student Havanna Childs said.
Mr Haynes said the reaction and adoption of the program, introduced in term two, was a “huge success”.
He said while generally the parents were the ones packing the lunch boxes, the education about waste and plastics at primary school age was vital to changing future lifestyle choices about waste.
“We took the bins away to help the parents see how much plastic they're producing with their kids lunches, so the idea was (the rubbish) was sent home.”
St Joseph’s School last year started “Waste Free Wednesdays” which has now developed into a focus on nude food lunchboxes.
“That was the main emphasis last year and that's trickled through to this year from reception to year 4 and now reception to year 7,” St Joseph’s ecology and sustainability key teacher Josh Mckenzie said.
CHOOK SCRAPS: St Joseph's School year 4 students Clea Ralph and Sheridan Graske with teacher Josh Mckenzie throwing an apple into a chook scraps bin.
He said nude lunch boxes encouraged healthier choices, better sized food portions and a shift from packaged food.
Mr Mckenzie said the major goal in the coming year at the school was to continue to reduce waste in the school yard and classroom.
“We have our composting buckets where we have composting bins and then our compost is put back onto our veggie gardens.
“We have chook buckets, which are collected daily by students and taken to their chickens at home,” he said.
“One day in the near future I’d like to see St Joe’s without bins which would be a massive shift, but I think it’s achievable, if you look at most things we throw out it’s either recyclable or compostable.”