Say NO to Polystyrene Foam (aka Styrofoam) In Our Cafeterias
Our school cafeterias are no place for polystyrene foam - help us make the switch to reusable, slotted lunch trays!
Leader
Growing Great Schools Kimberly Hughes
Location
50 S Main St West Hartford, CT 06107
About the project
Walk through our school cafeterias in West Hartford and you will probably be surprised at the amount of polystyrene foam - aka Styrofoam - used on a daily basis. The explanation is simple: polystyrene foam is shockingly cheap and when it comes to providing a nutritious school lunch for our children every cent counts.
One year ago Charter Oak International Academy (West Hartford Public Schools) received a grant from RecycleCT to replace polystyrene foam plates and bowls with re-usable, slotted trays, which were selected as the most financially viable, low-impact option. Now, Growing Great Schools, a local nonprofit focused on connecting food, health, and environment, wants to help all of our schools work to eliminate polystyrene foam plates and bowls and has partnered with WH Nutrition Services to make this happen.
We will start with 4 elementary schools - Webster Hill, Smith, Norfeldt and Aiken - which will require the purchase of 696 trays at a cost of $5.02. (= $3,493.92). This project can have a real impact in the 2019-20 school year. Can you help?
The Steps
Step 1: Support this fundraiser by getting donations from our community - Growing Great Schools, school PTOs (Parent/Teacher Organizations) and families.
Step 2: Order trays (3-week delivery) and Nutrition Services will prepare kitchens with needed equipment and training
Step 3: Final training and implementation (approx 1 week)
Step 4: Establish feedback loop to identify and share best practices
Why we‘re doing it
Polystyrene foam is among the worst of the single-use plastics and can be neither re-used nor recycled! Instead, it contaminates recycling bins, is easily broken into smaller pieces and litters our sidewalks and parks destroying habitats and endangering animals of all kinds.
Polystyrene foam products are harmful from start to finish. Toxins are a part of the manufacturing process, leech into food on contact and remain in our soil, water and air long after items are incinerated. Our trash facility is in Hartford where local neighborhoods are unfairly exposed to these contaminants.
These plastics do not belong on our sidewalks nor our schools...just ask our children!