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Burton Valley “Green Team” Reduces Lunch Waste by 95%!
Submitted By: Megan Pease (Summer Intern). Story based on interview with Lisa Evaristo (mareale@pacbell.net)

Challenge
burton-valley
Lisa Evaristo, a mother of three, began working with the Burton Valley hot lunch program ten years ago, motivated by her two passions, kids and food. For the past five years Lisa has been the head of the program, working diligently to improve the nutritional value of the food, recycling methods, and student involvement. Lisa noticed that each lunch day produced an incredible 20 cans of garbage filled with food, water bottles, milk cartons, trays, and paper. So Lisa made it her goal to work with Burton Valley's administration and students to create a more sustainable, green, and healthier lunch program.

Solution Details
Lisa began by getting the students involved in the efforts to make the hot lunch program more green. With the help of the administration, the "Green Team" was developed. It consists of a rotation of fourth grade students who help during lunch hour. The "Green Team" is in charge of separating the recyclable material from the garbage, collecting and stacking the reusable trays, and collecting all the bottles at the end of each lunch period. Every recyclable material that the fourth graders pull out of the trash is taken to the recycling center. All of the money that comes back from turning in the recyclables goes towards the fourth grade end of the year party. Lisa says, " The kids are highly motivated to get every recyclable thing out of the garbage. The parents used to provide all the food and supplies for the party, but now the kids pay for it themselves. The fourth graders are my heroes, I give them an apron and a pair of gloves, and they have the most fun basically dumpster diving!"

lunch-recyclables
Originally the program used sugarcane trays that were 100%  compostable, but created a lot of garbage. Three years ago the program made the switch to reusable trays, so by the end of each lunch period the only waste that is produced are the 10X10 thin paper liners which go on top of the tray. Before Lisa got involved and made the change, the lunch period produced 20 cans of garbage, now only 1 can of garbage is produced and even that is not completely full. Over 80% of the garbage and waste that goes into the garbage comes from the lunches that are brought from home.

With the help of John Scatena, who is a manager at the vendor SODEXO, Lisa has been able to make the program even more green. Before, the hot lunch volunteers would wear plastic aprons, which resulted in 125 aprons being thrown away each month. SODEXO supplied the program with cloth aprons which are washed at the end of every week, and results in no excess waste.

The next challenge that Lisa and the administration face is how to eliminate the use of water bottles. Lisa states that " It is not just a simple as getting rid of water bottles; we have to come up with the correct alternatives." There are many details and options that come with each change that could be made. If the school switched to supplying the water and cups for the kids then there is extra waste that it produces, the dangers of open container spills, and germs from reusable bottle. As of right now the school is working out a way that each child brings their own reusable water bottle, which goes home with them every weekend to get washed. "The sanitary problem is a big issue because there are no funds or space for washers at the school, so the bottles would have to be taken home to be washed." Lisa is optimistic that they will be able to find a suitable solution to eliminating the use of plastic water bottles.

Lisa says, that "the Burton Valley administration is very receptive and supportive to any idea or suggestion I bring to them. The kids have really backed me up during the whole process." She and the Burton Valley administration have high hopes that hot lunch program will continue to improve into a more sustainable, green, and healthy program.


Benefits & Payback

  • Savings to school from reducing lunch waste by 95% - from 20 garbage cans per school day down to 1.
  • Preventing 125 plastic aprons per month from going in the garbage
  • Fourth graders funding their own end of year party from recyclables that they collect


Informational Links

Burton Valley Elementary School
Burton Valley Hot Lunch Program
SODEXO - Services for School Districts
Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority - Program to Help Schools Reduce Waste
Contact Sustainable Lafayette Green School Committee



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