Every Tray Counts is growing! We currently have 3 programs: Full Pilot, Adopt-A-School (new), and Toolkit (new and partially funded).

First, Kingswood Elementary School in Cary, North Carolina. With a student population of 415 students, their enthusiasm seems twice as big! We are launching a full pilot here, which includes the introduction of compostable trays and the removal of polystyrene trays. I would like to thank Debra Bullock, the kitchen manager, for ordering these trays as quickly as she could, and helping to arrange for the pick up of the kitchen food waste faster than anything I’ve seen before! Thank you Debra! We are starting on the training required to roll the program out in the class room and the lunch room. When that is done, we will have a highly educated school and community, as well as tons of food and paper waste diverted from the landfill. My most fulfilling and exciting times at ETC have been when we start in the lunch room and introduce the students to the new and necessary way of looking at trash. It becomes liquids, recyclable materials, trash, and compostable materials.

The Adopt-A-School program was inspired by a family in Cary who wanted to donate money and see a simple program at their children’s school. Working with ETC, they sponsor the compostable trays and kitchen food waste hauling to a compost facility. Their generous donation exceeded the estimated cost of this school, and has inspired the expansion of this program. We have started a General Fund for Adopt-A-School. This enables anyone to donate to the project in general, or request that their donation be targeted to a specific school. Through the generous guidance of many in Wake County Schools and Wake County Solid Waste, when we have interest in a specific school, we can provide the general information regarding the # of trays used at the school. We can also estimate the amount of waste, and therefore pick-ups, that are needed on a weekly/yearly, basis. The cost of the trays this school year for this program is the lowest it has ever been since ETC started. The cost of the bins, hauling, administration, mileage and bin liners complete the financial picture. There are about 180 schools- some are traditional, some are year round, some serve breakfast and some do not. The list of variables goes on! There is a high degree of variability of cost per school and, unless someone has a specific school in mind, donating to the general fund is best. If you wish to make a donation to this program, please identify the Adopt-A-School program as your cause. We hope to broaden this effort to other areas soon. Please contact us directly if you would like us to consider your area.

The toolkit came from the fact that many, many people have asked ETC to help their school or district, and we could not accommodate them. We are a small non-profit and we have always been a “boots-on-the-ground”operation. After introducing this concept to many in North Carolina, we have been asked to develop a toolkit. Recognizing that not all schools can go the same distance, in the same time period, and in the same way with lunchroom waste diversion, we are developing a toolkit to educate people that waste diversion and education are integrated. The toolkit will provide a road map for any group, parent, school, or community that wants to explore issues of food waste, composting, tray options, and recycling in the school lunchroom. Tapping into expertise from schools, local government representatives, environmental groups, the PTA, and other organizations, the toolkit will be specific to NC schools. Each school district or community doesn’t always have the same barriers or opportunities; a toolkit provides options. Barriers commonly include lack of information, lack of coordination among schools, varying waste diversion capabilities within a town, city, or county and private waste hauling businesses, and others. Opportunities include savings from trash contracts and savings from buying sustainable products in bulk. This will also connect all interested schools in North Carolina to each other.
Our specific goals are as follows:

1. Give every school in North Carolina the ability to collect the correct information about its lunch room waste as well as the possibilities in their district to improve the use of compostable products and sustainable practices.
2. Educate communities and schools that waste diversion and education are integrated.

3. Connect all resources available with all groups and schools interested in developing their own sustainable practices.

4. The toolkit will provide guidance and a clear presentation of options which demystifies recycling and food waste diversion into simple, clear, and concise steps that result in financial savings and the diversion of the waste stream such that 90% or more of the total school waste is diverted from the landfill. It is our opinion that every community is best equipped to assess what will work in their own area.

5. Develop a state-wide connection between groups and agencies working in the area of environmental education, sustainability and fiscal responsibility.

6. Develop and research educational curricula by grade level for schools, and make it available to all.

We have received partial funding for this through the Clif Bar Foundation as well as several private donations. We are currently looking for more funding in order to complete this project by mid-year 2018.