Just One Day?

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Today we celebrate the Earth and look at ways of living a little lighter on the planet (we’ve only got one, you know!). Today, there are headlines in newspapers, specials on the television, celebrations in communities, and lots of Earth-friendly advice being shared.

But why just one day?

We hope you will join us in making habits of sustainable practices and we are here to help guide you toward that goal. Reducing energy use, eliminating pollution, existing peacefully with our wildlife, and building stronger communities are what we do here at Extension; and the advice is all free.

Whether it is landscape advice, energy conservation, health and nutrition, family living, youth development, or wildlife issues, our University of Florida faculty provide research-based information available every day at www.pinellascountyextension.org.

Make every day an Earth Day and celebrate our wonderful planet year-round!

Watch Your Child’s Wasteline at Lunch

Did you know that on average, one school-age child packing a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year? In fact, just one average-sized elementary school of 280 children produces 18,760 pounds or over 9 tons of lunch waste in one school year (http://www.wastefreelunches.org/) .

Amazingly, almost all of this waste can be prevented AND save you and your child's school money. According to the EPA, a child taking a prepackaged lunch to school spends an average of $4.02 a day or $723.60 per school year compared to $2.65 a day ($477.00 per school year) for a child who packs a waste-free lunch--a difference of $246.60 per person per year! And that's not all. When families pack disposable lunches, schools pay higher waste removal fees. Packing a waste-free lunch reduces the volume of trash and thus helps schools save money.

Here at Pinellas County Extension, we offer a program called the Waste-Free Lunch Challenge. This program is usually conducted following a school visit to our Outdoor Classroom. The idea is for visiting students to have their lunch in the gardens while one of our educators takes them on a tour of their lunchboxes. Concepts of food miles, organic farming, fair trade, recycling, reusing and composting are all addressed over lunch. The challenge for the students is to leave as little waste behind, and to try to have at least one waste-free lunch within the month.