Lunchbox wars

[hurricane]

Since dd1 has gone into year 1 she has been coming back from school with her lunchbox full of bread crusts, apple cores and mostly empty but slightly leaking drinks cartons. When I asked her why she wasn't putting her rubbish in the bin she explained that the teachers make them bring it home so it won't make the classroom smell. I put a note in her homework book to ask the teacher to let her throw away her empty drinks containers as they were leaking and the teacher has said that they tell the children to empty any drink before putting the carton back in their lunch box so once again dd brought home a sticky carton, apple core etc.

My question is is it unreasonable to expect children to be allowed to throw rubbish away so that their poor mums and dads aren't faced with a load of stinky food and drink when they open thier lunch boxes? And if not what should I do now?

Maybe its time to suggest exactly your points with the Head Teacher. They may be a very good reason why they don't have those facilities or they may welcome your ideas with open arms.

Wonderful ideas, so instead of moaning on here why don't you suggest it to the school or, since they probably have education to worry about, go in and implement your system.

Sorry, but for someone so busy shouldn't you have bigger things to worry about?

Why is it ridiculous? I don't send my kids in with apples, bananas or yogurt. There are lots of other fruit (dd is a great fan of plums at the moment), and many yogurts are full of the most incredible rubbish. I don't feel the need for any sifting on the lunchbox front. I put the box / cup in the dishwasher and throw the plum stone away. Big deal!

What you are suggesting is a perfectly good idea, but would take time and effort, and would probably only happen if someone in the school wanted to take on recyling as a real project.

Where people are surprised (I think) is that you appear to be angry that your children's school does not have a scheme going on. Fair enough it would be good if they were all environmentally aware, turned off their lightbulbs etc, but I think with the lunchbox thing you are being a bit extreme.

Actually, I don't see how plums are any less messy than bananas (what about the stones?). Apples and bananas and yoghurts (I actually buy the sugar free organic ones for your interest) are healthy and my kids like them. I am not going to stop sending them because they are messy! It is ridiculous.

I really don't see how the system I am suggesting is 'extreme' . God, if you think having a couple of recycling boxes and a compost heap is extreme what do you think of the councils that now make people separate their rubbish into 3 separate bins.

If people continue to put such petty obstacles in the way of being more environmentally friendly then I don't really see what hope we've got.

Will you be taking your points to the Head then or not?

Plum stones aren't smelly (like banana skins). If you send your children in with food that you know will be messy I can't see why you are complaining that you get a mess back! Personally I would be delighted if my children's school did recycling in the way that you suggest (although I don't know what they would do with the compostable rubbish, not generally having gardens/gardeners). I just don't feel the need to be angry that they don't.

hurricane - I think you're winding us up

Everything you say about the school (e.g. won't take too much effort, good for the environment to recycle etc) equally applies to you!!

Wondering where I said I was angry. Look, I'm not having sleepless nights over this. Clearing out lunchboxes is just one more slightly irksome task in a day full of other more and less irksome tasks that I could do without. What does make me slightly more angry though is people putting up trivial objections to sensible suggestions which would benefit parents, children and the environment. I'm sure there are people who also object to switching lights and computers off and recycling paper in the workplace and car sharing and so on and so forth. The net result of all of these objections is we destroy the planet. And the fact that some people are seeming to suggest that schools (and by schools I don't mean teachers more the whole institution and teh LEA) dealing responsibly with the waste produced in them (and lunch box waste is really no different from paper, toner cartridges etc in that it wouldn't be produced without the school) means that I have some kind of weirdy, freaky hangups and am not sending my kids in with the right kind of mess free food and mess free lunchboxes has frankly made me a bit sad.

Wheresthehamster and co can you really not see the advantage of a WHOLE SCHOOL having a scheme for recycling and composting lunchbox waste as opposed to just the odd individual parent like me (and I have said repeatedly that I do re-use and recycle my family's lunchbox stuff)??

Apart from the fact that this is obviously the most efficient way of dealing with the waste (at the site where it is produced) instead of repacking it and taking it all back home for mum and dad to recycle individually or (more likely) not, schools are supposed to EDUCATE and schools are there to change attitudes and instil good habits.

If schools can't be bothered (or put up bizarre obstacles) to recycling and clearly there are many examples of schools that DO somehow manage to do this and especially primary schools where kids are often particularly willing to be environmental pioneers then exactly who and how is the damage to the enviornment going to lessen or be repaired??

So ARE you going to take your ideas to the Head then!

Going right back to your OP, do you think that part of the reason they don't do it, is because they don't have kitchens and therefore don't have the room for a re-cyling area either?

The logistics of getting 220 kids to sort their own lunch rubbish into different bins would be appalling - where do you think schools would get the staff to supervise that? There's hardly enough time to get them all through the dining hall as it is.

Hmmm..it never occurred to me to get annoyed about this.

I thought the rubbish was left in there mainly so we can see how much they've eaten.

I can see as rubbish is such a big (and potentially expensive) problem these days why the school would not want the headache of dealing with it.

You obviously feel passionately about this. I said this before, why don't you talk to the school? They're the ones who are going to have to change their minds, not us.

I'm sure there are lots of things that schools and companies and people in general would rather not have the 'headache' of dealing with that doesn't mean they shouldn't have to. As I've said if the waste is being produced in the schools then they should be responsible for dealing with it just like any other waste that is produced there (and this is especially the case where children have no choice but to bring packed lunches). Oh God, how depressing that this is such a common attitude even with the enviornemntal awareness that we have today and with enviornmental awareness now being part of the National Curriculum.

RusyBear as I've said, in the school I'm talking about there are less than 200 bodies. The kids eat their lunches in their classrooms. I do not understand why it should be so hard for the kids to put their rubbish into 2 boxes labelled plastic recycling and compost. Then organise 2 kids on a rota from each class to take these boxes down to dump them in bigger recycling containers. After all, these are the same kids some of you tell me dutifully wrap up all their waste into appropriate containers and bring it home for you to deal with.

I have talked to the school and will again. I never imagined that this would meet with so much resisatance.

So are you going to tell them, then!!!

Sorry! crossed posts! I'm not arguing with you, honest, I agree actually, it would be a good lesson learnt, but there must be a good reason why they don't do it. These days you can't move for re-cycling boxes and if you start with the youngsters, then it will change the way we live. (I recycle everything btw!)

I repeat, schools have to pay for waste disposal and that includes recyclable/compostable waste - it still has to be transported.

If you can come up with a realistic way of covering the extra expense then I'm sure the school would be interested.

Why is yoghurt perceived as such a problem? I don't buy little pots because of the cost and the yucky additives in most of them. I make my own or buy good-quality yoghurt in large tubs, then spoon the required amount into sealed, leakproof containers. Any leftover dribbles are sealed nicely inside the container, ready for said container to be washed by hand or chucked into dishwasher. No sticky messes here.

You are also pre-supposing that most schools have easy recycling facilities. My town, and every town in my part of the county as far as I know, has no plastics collection points except at the recycling centres (aka 'the dump' for most people). This is obviously far from ideal and I'm lobbying for changes, but it still means that schools would be stuck with lots of plastics that just wouldn't be collected. So whose responsibility would it be to sort that out? More costs and time for the school? While I agree that schools should boost environmental awareness, ultimately we all have to take responsibility at home too, not just pass the buck. Especially when it's something as easy as emptying and washing out a lunchbox.

I still fail to see how say one apple core and a few sandwich leftovers really constitutes such a problem. I'm sure there are lots of things that parents don't want the 'headache' of dealing with, but it doesn't mean they shouldn't have to...

This is the most entertaining thread I have read for a while!
However as a governor in a secondary school I have seen the mess the kids (11-16yrs) make when they eat. If they can't put rubbish in the many bins in the hall - I can't see littlies sorting effectively (even if they can be trained to put rubbish away). The present system works in most infants and juniors (they take the rubbish home). My daughter carried this training with her so that when she went on an exchange to France I got a weeks worth of the packed lunches she had been given (in with her clothes - lovely). You may have to either accept giving them a plastic bag for rubbish or sorting it when they get home. What are your views on school uniforms?

I am beginning to think this thread is getting to be a bit of a wind-up. It's not a big thing.
As for uniform - I love em. I wish tho they were a bit more practical (ties for 7year olds?) and wuld ditch the sweatshirts for those gilet things - my sons hate sweatshirts but need something on in the winter- not vests!
I wish they were a bit more forgiving too - our local uniform suppliers (tescos, mostly) seems to get a ton of black trousers in, when every primary school in the area specifies grey. Until the secondary school, which specifies Black. And obviously tescos has loads of these sizes up til age 11. Then it had loads of grey.

Can I say, that I don't want a plastic recycling bin for my son to use at school - as he will then recycle my expensive 'Lock & Lock' storage tubs