This year, earn an A+ in school lunch. The average child who takes a disposable lunch bag and plastic-wrapped food to school generates sixty-seven pounds of garbage per school year (New York Department of Environmental Conservation). That adds up to about 18,760 pounds of lunch waste per elementary school.

1. CHOOSE A LUNCHBOX. A metal container or organic cotton or hemp bag make durable food carriers.

2. PACK FOOD IN REUSABLE CONTAINERS. Avoid plastic bags, wrap, and prepackaged foods. Hard-sided containers keep food from being squashed.

3. MAKE A CLOTH NAPKIN. Instead of paper, make a fabric napkin for each child to decorate and sign the chances the napkin won¹t be lost.

4. USE A REFILLABLE DRINK BOTTLE. Single-serve drink boxes, pouches, bottles, and cans create trash.

5. PACK REUSABLE UTENSILS. Stainless knives, forks, and spoons make lunch feel like a "real" meal.

6. TEACH CHILDREN ABOUT RECYCLING. At home, encourage them to separate recyclables from non-recyclables so they understand the importance of not creating waste.

--from The Laptop Lunch User's Guide: Fresh Ideas for Making Wholesome, Earth-friendly Lunches Your Kids Will Loveby Amy Hemmert and Tammy Pelstring (Morning Run Press, 2002). For more information, visit WasteFreeLunches.org.