Saving the environment with plastic lunch trays
Tonight, a group of elementary school students is going to ask the Montgomery County Council to do away with styrofoam lunch trays at their school cafeteria and bring back the hard plastic lunch trays. To make the switch, they are asking for money for their school to buy a dishwasher for the trays.
These 9- to 12-year-olds will hold a rally and then make statements during the comment period of the Montgomery County Board of Education meeting. The students, all at Piney Branch Elementary School, are part of a Young Activist Club. They have created a press release that includes the breakdown in costs to use the plastic trays versus the sytrofoam. They will argue that the school system is overestimating the cost of the washing machine. Here's what a girl named Heather DeMocker, a sixth-grader, wrote:
"Our school uses styrofoam lunch trays that are terrible for the environment and are made from a neurotoxin, which is bad for our bodies. County school administrators think that we shouldn't put a dishwasher into our school because it will cost money and there will be costs to pay someone to operate [a] dishwasher ... because it will cost money to buy the toxic styrofoam lunch trays, drive them to the school, and for school workers to handle them and put them in the garbage, and then to ship them away to the incinerator, and burn them. We think the county should pay for workers not trash."
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
NOTE::: The Piney Branch Students are not asking for money from the county; in fact, they have already raised more than $10,000 to pay for the entire Pilot Dishwasher project.
The students are only asking that the Board of Education take leadership and direct the school system to work with them to allow the funded Pilot to go forward.
This is a win-win situation: MCPS will save about $5500 from not using toxic styrofoam trays and plastic cutlery the first year alone; the environmental impact will be lessened, and, its a great lesson in stewardship.
A win on the economic, environmental and education fronts; it's ludicrous that MCPS has not approved this pilot.
Posted by: nadine bloch | July 28, 2009 11:47 AM
See the kids' public testimony on their proposal of a pilot project to introduce an alternative to styrofoam tray use in Montgomery County Public Schools. The public comment is in 3 parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6oCTR67u6g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vQbKJxVDmg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXpeAfP88Dw
Posted by: Janis | July 28, 2009 9:43 PM
Plus, my mother ran the diswasher at both my elementary school and middle school and put me through college.
Posted by: Deborah Lee | July 29, 2009 6:39 AM
If you kids are looking for a great alternative to Styrofoam trays and plastic utensils, check out www.umg-green.com/plastictrays. These trays and the plastic forks,knifes, and spoons will fully degrade in less than a year. This way they do not create any toxic waste and wont end up sitting in the landfill either. I think that what you are doing for the school is incredible and I hope that you win over the board!
Posted by: Lucy | November 14, 2010 5:48 PM
After reading what Lucy said, I thought
I might investigate. I went to www.umg-green.com and I was surprised at what I found. I am still pushing my little girl's school, but I think that they are convinced. They will be having a board meeting also. Thanks Lucy!
Posted by: Taylor | November 20, 2010 10:52 AM
we are doing the same at my school wish us luck
Posted by: bob | December 5, 2011 7:58 PM