Should School lunch be trash-free?

                                                        -an opinion essay

          People are debating about whether or not schools should require kids to pack a trash-free lunch. Many people think that student lunches create lots of unnecessary garbage. Others feel that making a trash-free lunch is a big hassle. After considering both sides, I believe that kids should bring trash-free lunches.

          Packing a trash-free lunch can prevent 1.2 billion pounds of waste from ending up in landfills. If your lunch is in a reusable container, there is much less trash. Very little school lunch is recycled and ends up ruining the earth. Your lunch doesn’t reach recycling centers, instead it winds up in landfills where it takes centuries to break up. Trash-free lunches are not only a blessing for our earth, they also cost less money. Miniature packages, although convenient, are expensive.

          Some people complain that reusable containers are expensive. I disagree because pre-packaged snacks cost more than buying one or a few reusable containers. For example, a 16-ounce bag of baby carrots cost $1.50, but one 4-ounce pack of baby carrot costs $0.75.

          There is enough evidence that schools should require students to pack trash-free lunches. Parents would need to figure out the extra time needed in cleaning out reusable containers and in packing trash-free lunches. Kids can help with some of this extra work. After all, we all have a duty to protect our planet and doing some extra work due to it is all worth it for our future generations.  

-WG