A Rhode Island elementary school has embraced stainless steel lunch trays, eliminating lunch waste by as much as 90% and making students happier in the process.
As reported by the Washington Post, Brown Avenue Elementary is a mere three miles from the state's only landfill. Using plastic foam trays in the cafeteria only added to the nearby pile, as the material is difficult to recycle and can take 500 years to break down.
Eating foods served on plastic foam can also come with an unhealthy helping of cancer-linked chemicals. Unfortunately, because the material is cheap and doesn't require significant kitchen labor, it is a popular choice in school cafeterias, according to pediatrician Manasa Mantravadi, who founded the stainless steel dinnerware brand Ahimsa.
Despite the short-term inconvenience, with only one permanent kitchen staff member, Brown Avenue invested time and money into stainless steel lunch trays and utensils. A grant from the Rhode Island Education Department paid the cost of the trays for a little more than $1,000, while staff member Nancy Carlton estimates she is only on the clock an extra 15 minutes each day. All in all, the school estimates it will save $3,500 every year.
Early indications are everyone is thrilled with the move and its long-term perks.
"It helps the landfill and it's better for the environment," fifth-grader Mia Amaral told the Post. "And the old trays used to fall apart, they would bend or break."
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Fifth-grader Lucas Halton added that the plastic foam trays "used to fly," suggesting that the slightly heavier stainless steel trays were no trouble to handle.
After students finish their meals, they return the reusable trays and utensils to cafeteria staff with the help of student volunteers, who are also tackling food waste through composting.
According to Feeding America, the United States throws out the equivalent of 145 billion meals annually. When that waste rots in landfills, it produces methane, a potent gas contributing to an overheating planet — and associated intensified extreme weather threatening our food supply. However, composting can lessen these effects, as well as provide free, nutrient-rich fertilizer.
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Kelly DeAngelis, a facilitator with the Rhode Island School Recycling Project, told the Post other schools in the district are eyeing Brown Avenue's successful program and are now interested in implementing similar programs. Importantly, the state's plastic foam ban, which took effect Jan. 1, has helped with both enforcement and funding.
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"People in my position have an opportunity to make a change. And if somebody is willing to put their necks forward to make that change, others will follow," Brown Avenue principal Helina Dlugon, who grew up recycling and composting, told the Post.
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