In a pilot program with two cafeterias, Brownwood ISD is replacing styrofoam lunch trays with hard plastic trays. “If you took all the trays we used at those two cafeterias in one year and laid them end-to-end, they would reach over 39 miles,” stated School Nutrition Director, Steve Locke.
Woodland Heights Elementary cafeteria and the cafeteria serving Coggin Elementary and Brownwood Intermediate School are the locations for the pilot tray program.
Woodland Heights still had their reusable trays from several years ago, which they have begun using again. “Our kids (at Woodland) had never used plastic trays before,” said Mary Barnes, cafeteria manager for Woodland Heights. “They were very excited,” she said.
Coggin and Brownwood Intermediate received brand new maroon trays with a lion logo imprinted on them. “The new trays carry a five year warranty, so you could say we are saving almost 200 miles of foam trays” stated Locke. “The new trays seem to be a hit with the students, as food just looks better on something maroon and shiny,” she said.
The change was initiated by the respective cafeteria managers, Mary Barnes and Venus Tischler. “Both managers felt like they had the manpower to wash reusable trays everyday, and they were also bothered by the amount of foam waste generated by their cafeterias,” Locke stated.
Why not plastic trays for all the other school cafeterias? Locke responded to the question, “The layout of the dishroom is different at each school, and in some cases, it is not conducive to washing reusable trays.” He also explained that excess manpower is not available at some of the other school cafeterias for washing that many trays. “We want to monitor the first two cafeterias in this new program before we go any further,” said Locke.
The new trays at the Coggin/BIS cafeteria cost over $3,400. Brownwood ISD expects to recoup the cost of this purchase in less than one year.
