SOUTH SHORE YMCA NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER

Trashless Lunch

Committed to Keeping a Clean Environment

Above all else, the South Shore YMCA Natural Science Center is committed to caring for our environment. Toward that end, we encourage our visitors who are bringing food to pack Trashless or Waste-free Lunches:

On average a school-aged child using a disposable lunch (plastic baggies, prepackaged foods, plastic forks and spoons, disposable juice boxes, etc.), generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-sized elementary school.

With Trashless Lunches, such amounts of waste can be diverted from our environment. When packing your lunch, please consider bringing:

  • Sandwiches and other main dishes, fresh fruits and vegetables and treats in a reusable lunch container or containers.
  • Cloth napkins
  • Stainless steel forks and spoons
  • Reusable drink containers (i.e. water bottles)
  • Reusable lunchboxes

This way, very little trash is generated because food packaging is left at home for reuse or recycling. Food waste also decreases because, with a reusable lunch container, children can re-pack uneaten food instead of dumping it, packaging and all, into our trash cans.

The Science Center provides recycling bins next to every trash can on our grounds.