Do you ever wonder where your styrofoam tray goes after you dispose of it in the cafeteria trash can? School food services across America have been using these disposable, styrofoam lunch trays for years. This styrofoam is not recyclable and is extremely harmful to the environment. In 24 United States cities, schools have banned styrofoam lunch trays and replaced them with dishwashers and reusable, hard plastic trays. Wilmington has a similar program, but there is a slight problem; the high school only has enough hard plastic trays to serve two out of three lunch periods, requiring the use of throw-away styrofoam trays. Our school system should purchase more hard, plastic trays to completely eliminate the use of styrofoam in the school lunch program. Doing so will ultimately provide a healthier, more environmentally friendly and cost effective school lunch experience.

Styrofoam is extremely bad for the environment because it cannot be decomposed. Approximately 31.8 million children in the United States buy lunch at school everyday; that’s 5.7 billion styrofoam trays that are thrown away each school year. When styrofoam ends up in landfills, it sits there for decades. Dr. Andrew Weil, MD states “The styrene foam containers blow away, often into the ocean, where they don’t disintegrate.” When consumed by wildlife, it blocks their digestive system and leads to starvation and death. Schools should not contribute to polluting the earth and should instead teach students to use environmentally friendly materials.

Styrofoam is made out of synthetic, polystyrene foam beads that are fused together. Polystyrene is a carcinogen and when heated, it can emit harsh chemicals that are not healthy for humans or animals. An experienced scientist at the Environmental Working Group, Olga Naidenko, says “Trace amounts of styrene as well as various chemical additives in polystyrene migrate into food, which increases significantly in hot liquids,” When tested on rats, scientists discovered the chemicals in the styrofoam caused lung tumors. They determined that these chemicals can also lead to diseases like leukemia in humans. Serving hot food on these harmful trays is not conducive to healthy eating. We should not have to be worried about ingesting chemicals while eating school lunch on styrofoam trays. Purchasing safe, reusable, plastic trays is a healthier alternative that will keep students away from the dangerous effects of styrofoam.

Across the United States, many school districts have been making changes to resolve this styrofoam issue. New York public schools mandated a ban on styrofoam trays after realizing they used and disposed of 850,000 trays each day. So, why hasn’t Wilmington High School taken the action of buying more reusable plastic trays to completely eliminate the use of styrofoam? The high school says they run out of the reusable ones each day which results in the use of styrofoam for the third lunch period. You might be thinking: “Why don’t they buy more plastic trays?” Although the reusable plastic trays are more environmentally friendly, they are also significantly more expensive in upfront costs. Due to budgeting, Wilmington public schools cannot buy enough reusable trays for every student. While, the hard plastic trays are approximately $5 each and the disposable, styrofoam trays are approximately 5¢ each. This means that it would take about 100 days, or half the school year, to pay off the costs of the plastic trays. The Wilmington Public Schools food services should make it a priority to fund these environmentally friendly lunch trays, as it will be less costly in the future.

After learning about the effects of styrofoam in the environment and in the lunch services program, purchasing more plastic, reusable lunch trays will help save the environment, keep students safe, and would be more cost effective for the school. This will reduce the amount of styrofoam found in landfills and keep the earth clean. The positive effects of eliminating styrofoam lunch trays at Wilmington High School will benefit both you and the earth.

Sources:

"How Styrofoam is Bad for the Environment - Green Living - LoveToKnow." Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.

"Polystyrene foam is bad for your body and the ... - Baltimore Sun." 16 Feb. 2017, Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.

"It's not easy to replace foam lunch trays with ... - Washington Post." 8 Dec. 2012, Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.

"Is Styrofoam Safe? - Ask Dr. Weil." Accessed 19 Oct. 2018.

"Styrofoam Really Is Bad for Your Health | Bottom Line Inc." 5 Sep. 2013, Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.

"Getting styrofoam out of schools - Cafeteria Culture." Image. Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.

"Coastal Cleanup Goes #FoamFree — Plastic Pollution Coalition." 11 Sep. 2017, Image. Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.