Starting Jan. 9, La Salle will begin the switch to fully reusable dishware in the cafeteria as part of a broader school-wide effort to make the school greener.
The initiative, led by Ms. Megan Jones, Kitchen Manager, aims to eliminate the massive amount of waste generated every day by La Salle’s current disposable dishware as thousands of trays and bowls pile up in the dumpsters. It has been readily supported by many different community members, especially the Earth Club, which has played a big part in efforts to inform the student body about the upcoming switch and how it will work on a daily basis.
Stations will be established in the cafeteria, main hall, and the science wing to provide a place for students to put the dishware after use. Members of La Salle’s administration team and some other staff members will volunteer to help students adjust to the new lunchtime flow.
After a trial period with the new stations, their locations and number will be changed to fit the community’s needs.
Other than the addition of new stations around the school, and a new type of container for students’ food, lunch will remain largely unchanged.
The reusable dishware initiative has been a long time in the making, and is only the first step in several plans to improve the school’s environmental footprint.
It all started with the question: “how can we change things here that could be easy and achievable, and make a big difference?” Ms. Jones said.
Originally only one of many ideas, according to Ms. Jones, reusable dishware was chosen as a crucial first step toward a greener school. Other ambitions were put on hold until this first initiative achieves success.
But even one step has proved more difficult than was first imagined.
The kitchen staff felt student involvement was important before any big changes such as this could be made. This aspiration meant the idea was never fulfilled when they tried last year, since there was no active Earth Club and no easy way to get the community involved.
That changed with the club’s reestablishment at the start of this year, with Mr. Matthew Owen, and juniors Ashley Kamhoot, Ali Moran, and Audrey Waters especially working with the kitchen staff to implement reusable dishware.
Ms. Jones and the kitchen team reached out to them and other relevant members of the community and administration to get the project off the ground.
Within the kitchen, a lot of new complexity has been added to the kitchen staff’s processes due to the new reusable dishware. The whole menu and dishes have to be reworked to fit new sizes of containers as well as the opposite, with special dishware being ordered just to accommodate single food items — such as pizza.
The staff also has to balance the challenge of washing the hundreds of dishes every day without adding extra time into anyone’s schedule or compromising other parts of the lunch process.
But this year, with the support of the Earth Club and the school’s student leadership team, the idea has started to become a reality. 600 new pieces of reusable dishware, in the forms of trays and bowls, were purchased, and with the administration’s backing, they are ready to replace La Salle’s current monthly supply of disposable trays.
In November, before Thanksgiving break, posters went up around the school, informing students about the change, and on Thursday, Jan. 9, the initiative will finally be implemented.
In the future, with the continued collaboration of students, teachers, clubs, and the administration, the kitchen staff hope to implement further initiatives to make La Salle more climate friendly and climate conscious.
