To Styrofoam or Not to Styrofoam?

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We now know the answer to that question! Through our studies, students know that styrofoam is not the Earth friendly way to go. There are 20 cities in the United States that have banned the use of styrofoam, and we would like to join that group. So, our question is: why do we use styrofoam trays in the cafeteria? We don't recycle them. We throw them away. We wondered how much styrofoam Kramer students are contributing to a landfill each day, week, month and year. We decided to find out by collecting all of the food trays, cups and bowls that are used and thrown away in our cafeteria in one day.

Our experiment was conducted on Thursday, Feb. 9th. Groups of students worked with Ms. Southwick during breakfast and lunch periods to collect and pile up all of the containers that were used. At the end of the last lunch period, we counted what we had collected and came up with the grand total of 1,627 lunch trays, plastic bowls and serving containers.

Then we decided to approximate how many items our school throws away for the entire year. So we multiplied 1,627 items by 175 school days. We figured out that our school throws away approximately 284,725 recyclable items in one school year. You can imagine how surprised we were when we saw this number!

But, we didn't stop there! What about our entire school district? We have 600 students in our school and 157,000 students in our district. So we divided 157,000 by 600 to get 261.66. Then we took 261.66 and multiplied that by 284,725. The grand number of 74,501,143 shows approximately how many items our whole school district sends to a landfill in one school year. And to think this is only what is generated in our cafeterias.

This experiment has made us wonder what we can do to lower the amount of recyclables sent to landfills. Not to mention, recyclables that will take years to disintegrate. We know there are companies that produce compostable containers that we could use instead. So our next step is to share our findings and concerns with our school board. We want to give them some "food for thought". Our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students will each write a letter to the school board stating their knowledge and request that alternatives to this waste be considered.

Catherine Southwick

Science/Math/Garden Coordinator