By Abby Patkin
As school cafeterias nationwide continue to use polystyrene, or Styrofoam, trays, many clubs and advocacy groups have spoken out in favor of greener alternatives.
At Newton South, the Environmental Club has begun its efforts to eliminate the use of such trays in its own cafeteria.
Members of the Environmental Club, however, said that they have had little success in convincing Whitson’s, the culinary service used in Newton Public Schools’ cafeterias, to make the switch to biodegradable trays.
“With such a big task, there have definitely been a few obstacles, money being the biggest obstacle in the way,” senior Brittany O’Neil said. “Styrofoam trays are relatively cheap, while trays made from more sustainable material cost a good amount more.”
The Gloucester Times recently covered the expensive switch from polystyrene to biodegradable trays, stating that biodegradable plates used in local restaurants “cost about 6 cents a piece, compared to 4 cents for polystyrene.”
Still, South students’ environmental concerns are backed by evidence in today’s environment.
The Environmental Protection Agency reported that in 1992 alone, 32.8 million pounds of styrene–the main component of Styrofoam–were released into the environment, threatening the health of wildlife and humans alike.
This styrene can take over a million years to fully biodegrade, taking up unnecessary space in landfills.
If they are able to move past monetary roadblocks, members of the club said they envision a greener school cafeteria, starting with the cafeteria trays themselves.
“I never like eating on the current trays,” sophomore Nadav Furgang said. “They’re so flimsy, and sometimes you can’t hold [them] with one hand without food rolling over the sides. The new trays would be sturdier.”
“For the community, it brings the school one step closer to becoming an environmentally friendly school. Also, if we ever collect compostables in the cafeteria, these trays will be able to go into compost bins, along with leftover food.”
The project has provided South students with an opportunity to collaborate with those at North who are concerned about this issue.
“I believe that [Whitson’s] buys [South’s] trays in a bundle with North, so we’ve had to work together with them,” Furgang said.
Many faculty members have bolstered Environmental Club’s efforts by signing a petition for biodegradable trays. With this administrative support, club members said they hope to inspire the South community to make small, environmentally friendly changes in their own lives.
“Hopefully once the change has been made, more students will see their own potential to make a change, and take a step towards changing our impact on the environment,” O’Neil said.
For O’Neil, this project has been a long time coming as she has been working on the issue of styrofoam since her freshman year.
“The entire process has been extremely slow,” O’Neil said, “but hopefully we’ll see more progress soon.”
