The Case of School Cafe

The Case of the School Cafeteria

Christy and Maria were best of friends who always ate lunch together in their middle school cafeteria. One day, while they were waiting for the 12:40 bell to ring, Christy noticed that trash from lunch filled four large garbage cans. This really didn’t surprise her since school lunch was served on plastic throw-away trays and students used throw-away plastic spoons and forks. Combine that with the empty milk cartons, the paper napkins, and the lunch bags brought from home, and all this created a lot of trash! “What a waste!” exclaimed Christy. “Maria, why don’t we use reusable trays and silverware in our cafeteria? It can’t be that big of a deal to wash them. Just think about our local landfill getting filled up with solid waste. Our cafeteria is really contributing to the problem.” “Don’t worry about it,” answered Maria. “What can you do about it anyway?” “Let’s ask Mrs. Clifton if we can discuss it at the next student council meeting,” responded Christy. “I bet she wouldn’t mind.” “That’s not a bad idea,” said Maria. “She might be interested. It’s worth a try.” As it turned out, Mrs. Clifton, the student council advisor, thought it was a veryimportant topic to discuss. In fact, she asked the principal, Mr. Harris, and the cafeteria manager, Mrs. Downing, to attend the next student council meeting. On the day of the meeting, Christy and Maria explained their concerns. “We have learned that recycling the plastic items wouldn’t work,” explained Christy, “since there are no available processing facilities for these items, and there is no

market for recycling the paper napkins and milk cartons. However, by following this plan, the school cafeteria can eliminate most of its trash.” 1. Use reusable hard plastic trays and metal silverware, instead of the disposable kinds. The reusable trays and silverware could be washed easily. 2. Use cloth napkins, which also could be washed and reused instead of paper napkins. 3. Use washable regular...