The amount of trash that is accumulated in our high school cafeteria is no secret. Although the school does its best to recycle and protect our environment, the environmental club noticed one common denominator. Styrofoam trays. These trays cannot be recycled, meaning that hundreds of them get thrown away daily. This amount of trash is awful for the earth and the environmental club has decided to take action and come up with a solution.
Senior club members Abby Cook, Reese Crick, Zoey Favata, Jace Pedicone, and Jenna Sonnie got the ball rolling last school year. Zoey Favata mentioned, “It was a long process, but the outcome was worthwhile.”
Members of the club spent their time last school year brainstorming a plan of action to begin eliminating the trash. Their vision was to create a system of reusable trays to eliminate the excessive amount of waste going into the school trash cans.
The vision came to life this 2023-24 school year when the cafeteria began switching out some of the styrofoam for reusable trays. After the first week of this new system, the school’s trash had been cut in half, according to Dr. Benning.
Daytime custodian George Lindsay reported an average of 45 bags of trash per day, while that number has changed to less than 22 bags per day. Even though the cafeteria has yet to completely transfer over to all reusable trays, 400-500 fewer trays are being used each day. In the future, the environmental club would like to get rid of all styrofoam trays. Zoey Favata adds “Seeing such a big change is really impactful and I hope that other people stick to it and want to work toward something bigger.”
Although these statistics are impressive, there were some bumps in the road along the way. One of the biggest concerns was figuring out a system that ensured all the trays were being washed and dried every day. It was unrealistic to expect our cafeteria staff to wash the new trays. To alleviate that obstacle, some members of the environmental club volunteered to help wash trays every day after lunch.
Another concern was losing the trays due to students accidentally throwing them away. Club sponsor, Mr. Richter, made new trash can lids that prevent the trays from being thrown away. As of now, not one tray was lost in the garbage.
It took a lot of hard work for these changes to catch on throughout the school. “It was not an easy fix,” said two-year environmental club member, Kennedy King. Even through the struggles, these environmentally conscious students persevered. Overall, the environmental club is hard at work making small changes that have a great impact.
While high school is a time for academic growth, it is also a chance for students to develop their character by participating in community activities. The tray movement has created the perfect moment for students to help the community during school hours. The freshman focus classes have come together to create a system where different groups go down to the cafeteria and wash the trays. This removes some of the duties of the environmental club members and the cafeteria workers. This is a unique opportunity for students to give back to our school while doing their part to help the environment. Senior, Zoey Favata notes, “It’s a great opportunity to have students volunteer as well in the cafeteria. It creates a better community in our school.”
Latrobe Students Roll Up Their Sleeves to Serve Their Community While high school is a time for academic growth, it is also a chance for students to develop their character by participating in community activities. The tray movement has created the perfect moment for students to help the community during school hours. The freshman focus classes have come together to create a system where different groups go down to the cafeteria and wash the trays. This removes some of the duties of the environmental club members and the cafeteria workers. This is a unique opportunity for students to give back to our school while doing their part to help the environment. Senior Zoey Favata notes, “It’s a great opportunity to have students volunteer as well in the cafeteria. It creates a better community in our school.”
