New year, new resolutions.

We all know that the most common New Year’s resolutions are about improving ourselves, often revolving around diet or exercise. Around the Edge office, we’re big fans of being eco-champions, and we love the idea of making resolutions to help the environment.

It’s estimated that schools in Canada can generate up to 80,000 tonnes of garbage each week! By resolving to pack greener lunches for your kids, parents can help their schools to reduce this number.

This might sound like a big job, but don’t worry: packing green lunches is simpler than you think. We’ve pulled together a list of our top tips for packing eco-friendlier school lunches for your kids in 2020.

Ditch the plastics

Coverage on the effects of single-use plastics has been widespread; we all know it takes forever to break down, pollutes our oceans, and harms turtles, dolphins, and other sea creatures. So what can you do to help reduce waste?

Pack your kids’ lunches in reusable containers instead of plastic bags or cling wrap, use eco-friendly or cloth napkins, and opt for reusable or bamboo utensils.

You can even take a step further and consider eliminating all single-use plastics from your family’s daily life. 

Use less meat

The UN recently stated that a global shift toward a plant-based diet is necessary to combat some of the effects of climate change. Completely changing your family’s dietary habits is a big step, and one best taken gradually.

Instead of quitting animal products cold turkey (pun intended), set small goals, like packing your kids a meatless school lunch once or twice a week. Swapping ¼ pound of beef for soy just once per week can save the equivalent amount of greenhouse gases from 10 billion smartphones charging.

Meatless food prep doesn’t have to be difficult, either! Here are a few ideas for kid-friendly, healthy, plant-based school lunches to get you started. 

Buy or make snacks in bulk

Next time you have to stock up on snacks for your kids’ school lunches, consider heading to a bulk store like Bulk Barn. Some of these stores offer discounts to customers who bring their own reusable containers instead of using the provided plastic bags. 

By purchasing a larger quantity of snacks that aren’t individually wrapped, you can easily eliminate tons of plastic packaging, not to mention leverage the budget- and time-saving benefits of meal prepping. 

Simply portion the snacks into reusable containers at home, and you’re ready to go!

As a parent, few things in life feel more important than making sure your child is set up for a successful life. Often, though, the smaller achievements that come along the way can be overlooked, with a stronger focus on bigger, long term goals like graduation, post-secondary, and careers.

With the new year just around the corner, we want to give you some inspiration to hop on the goal-setting train. We believe in the importance of both setting up for and celebrating the small wins; as these often help lead to the bigger ones. Help your kid get set up for success in 2020 by encouraging some of these new year’s resolutions.

Pursue a passion project outside of school

Working on school projects is important, but it’s still part of the regular, day-to-day responsibilities of being a student. Encouraging your child or teen to spend time after school or on the weekends working on something they care about helps them to get into the habit of staying productive in their personal time.

It could be something like writing, journaling, or drawing a picture each day for younger children, while middle and high school-aged kids could learn an instrument or a new language or even fight for an important cause.

Increase mindfulness through meditation

Practicing meditation will equip your child with the tools to stay grounded even through the most stressful parts of their schooling, part-time jobs, or friendships. No child is too young to meditate; even preschoolers can learn to process their feelings in a healthy way through meditation. 

Meditation is a powerful tool that allows people to learn how to deal with their emotions by controlling their own mind and therefore their own life. After taking up meditation, people often report feeling like they have a longer attention span, more self-awareness, and less anxiety.

It’s so easy to get started and the benefits can be amazing. Smartphone apps like Headspace offer affordable meditation courses for both adults and children, and free meditations of different lengths are available for free on YouTube.

Eat healthier

We know, we know, if it was this simple to get kids to eat healthy, dinnertime fights over broccoli would be no more.

It’s not foolproof, but involving children in the cooking process may make them more likely to want to eat healthier food. By teaching young ones where the ingredients come from, what they do for their bodies, choosing recipes, and cooking together, children can learn a lot about the food they eat, and they’re able to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when the final product is ready.

If that fails, consider whipping up one of these secretly healthy dessert recipes!