Theo Stamoolis

Composting as a Solution to Lunch Waste

For my advocacy project, I researched the use of lunch trays in the cafeteria at Colony. These trays are made of bagasse, which is a byproduct of sugarcane production. This means that there is less total waste than if they were made of other types of paper, because the trays are already made of recycled material. However, because there are so many trays used, there is still a fairly large amount of solid waste. I communicated with Mrs. Bailey, who is in charge of the CHS cafeteria, as well as the Valley Center for Recycling Solutions. After learning about the way that these lunch trays could be disposed of, I concluded that the best method to reduce the solid waste will be to compost the trays. There are other possible solutions, such as recycling the trays, or using reusable trays, but none of these alternatives are cost-effective. Composting, however, is not very expensive, and there are plans to make composting available at the Palmer Landfill in coming years. I communicated with the management for the Palmer landfill, and they explained that as the program is fairly young, it may be several years before they will be able to accept these trays. So, to advocate, I sent an email to members of the CHS staff, explaining this situation and advocating for the trays to be composted when composting becomes an option.