Mum of three, Abbey Ellis, talks about zero waste lunch boxes.
Griffin Ellis is used to taking his lunch to kindy without any packaging. And any rubbish he creates, comes right back home in his backpack.
The 3-year-old is part of the impact-making generation being raised waste-free.
At his kindy in Milford, Auckland, there is a compost bin for food scraps, fruit trees and a vege patch that the children look after and eat from, and no general rubbish bins.
It's the same deal for his older brothers' schools; Alex, 9, at Milford Primary and Lewis, 13, at Kristin School.
Lunch-boxes with leak-proof compartments help to keep lunches waste-free. Photo / Lynley Edwards
As supermarkets move away from single-use plastic bags, the spotlight is on other land-filling products.
A growing number of schools have banned pre-packaged food or require students to take their lunch rubbish home.
At home, the boys' mum Abbey Ellis said the schools' environmental policies have made her shop differently. She buys fresh food, yoghurt and snacks in big packets and uses lunchboxes with compartments.
Lunch-boxes can be healthy and waste-free. Photo / Lunchbox Queen
"The zero-waste policy is enforced, so Griffin is growing up with it," Ellis said.
Head teacher at Milford Kindergarten Amanda Bowen said the green philosophy was supported by the kindy's membership in the Enviroschools programme.
A third of all schools and kindies in New Zealand - more than 1150 schools and 250 kindies - had signed up for the programme.
It is focused on creating a healthy, peaceful and sustainable world by learning from nature.
"We have rainwater tanks and one of them is linked to a handpump in the sandpit that children can use for play," Bowen said.
"In summer when the water starts running out they realise they can't just waste it. It's a lesson."
Griffin Ellis, 3, has no packaging on his kindy lunches. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The children harvest the seeds from fruits and veges they have grown for the following season.
Soil is improved with fertiliser from the huge worm farm and compost from the bokashi bins.
At enrolment time parents are told about zero waste and given ideas on how to keep their children's lunch boxes waste-free.
"We also have a fridge so children can bring a wide variety of healthy food we can keep cool."
Zero waste is also supported at Gladstone School in Mt Albert. The school environment was protected by a group of "Eco-Warriors" who tended the garden and promoted recycling and sustainability.
The school installed solar panels on the hall roof close to a year ago and pupils knew how they worked and what the benefit was.
"We have an app and we can see that 20 per cent of our power is coming from the solar panels," principal Dave Shadbolt said.
"That's $8000 that can go on other resources."
Lynley Edwards - aka The Lunchbox Queen - said her web-based business was booming with high interest in leak-proof lunch-boxes with compartments.
"They used to be seen as a bit of a luxury I think, but now they are much more mainstream as schools are really encouraging their use."
Beeswax wraps eliminate the need for plastic wrap over sandwiches. Photo / supplied
Edwards surveyed customers on her website and found a groundswell of eco-friendly policies at schools and kindies. They included bans on plastic bags, water-only for drinks, bans on packaging or pupils required to take rubbish home.
A growing number of kindies had buckets for organic food waste which was then put into the worm farm after lunch.
Beeswax wraps were growing in popularity as were silicon bands that kept sandwich wraps together and eliminated the need for tin foil or plastic wrap, Edwards said.
A light lunch
Lynley Edwards - aka The Lunchbox Queen - share tips for parents for a zero-waste lunchbox
• Use a lunchbox with lots of compartments, with lidded smaller containers inside • Cut up fruit so excess can be saved for later or shared between lunch-boxes • Buy yoghurt in bulk and decant it into reusable food pouches • When making smoothies at home, make extra and freeze it in small food pouches • Pop your own popcorn • Purchase from bulk bins and make up your own mix with pretzels, nuts, pumpkin seeds, dried fruit • Pack reusable bamboo or stainless steel cutlery instead of plastic spoons
