Primary schools in Cumbria will be getting the taste for more fruit and vegetables whilst finding out about composting next week (from Tuesday 2 May).
Egon's Green Gardening Lunch sees Cumbria County Council's school meals service and waste education service coming together to promote healthy eating and the benefits of composting, using the foodservice cartoon characters Egon and friends.
The council is currently offering home composting bins to all Cumbrian residents at discounted prices. As part of the scheme schools can receive up to three composting bins free of charge as well as a visit from a home composting advisor to get them started.
Participating schools will pick one day next week to prepare a meal using fresh fruit and vegetables 'straight from the garden' and link this in with how to compost waste such as vegetable peelings.
Waste education officer Martin Allman will also be visiting school assemblies throughout the week. He said:
"Last year Cumbria composted over 36 thousand tonnes of domestic and garden waste, but we could compost over 130 thousand tonnes.
"Schools and school children play an important role in spreading the message about waste and recycling, and really enjoy learning how they can protect the environment by composting their lunchtime and breaktime waste."