Articles & Blogs Posts
Every Tray Counts Announces New Executive Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 2, 2020 Every Tray Counts is pleased to announce that Stacy Ahua has been named the organization’s next executive director, succeeding current executive director and founder Sue Scope. Stacy has started in her new role as of December 1....
Make your at home “school” lunch more eco-friendly!
By composting, either at home or with a composting service, and by reducing packaging, you can limit the amount of waste going to the landfill. Try limiting single use items and individual portion snack containers. Start small; every waste reduction is important! See...
Every Tray Counts Participates in Wake Green Schools Partnership Kick Off Event
On March 9, Every Tray Counts participated in the Wake Green Schools Partnership Kick Off Event for Teachers. At the event, community organizations and schools had the opportunity to engage with each other around ways to increase environmental literacy and creative...
Lunchroom Waste Audit Results Tell a Striking Story
Since our first audit, ETC’s been able to show lunchroom audit results that are consistent and revealing. The data collected proves that most of the waste generated in public school lunchrooms consists of compostable materials that could be diverted away from our...
Kingswood Elementary – Lessons from an Every Tray Counts Successful Full Pilot School
In the summer of 2017 Sue Scope, executive director of Every Tray Counts (ETC), met with Sherry Schliesser and Barb Fair, the principal and assistant principal respectively, to discuss the benefits of our full pilot program at Kingswood Elementary in Cary, NC. Our...
“Has the world reached peak plastic? Nearly 13 million tons of plastic are dumped in the ocean each year. It is estimated that at this current pace there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050. Single use plastics are commonly and increasingly being...
Exciting Collaboration – Food FWD Joins CompostNow’s Team
At Earth Day 2014, ETC and Food FWD were invited by Don’t Waste Durham to share their booth. Bryant Holsenbeck (an environmental artist) graciously created this polystyrene snake for our booth. Since the start of Every Tray Counts in 2014, Noah and Sarah Marsh of Food...
Growing Environmental and Public Health Concerns: Plastic in Our Oceans
Scientists are looking for - and finding - little bits of plastic in a lot of places lately: ice cores, deep sea sediments, coral reefs, crab gills, the digestive system of mussels, even German beer....
NPR on Move Away From Polystyrene Trays
Good morning! See this latest article on NPR about the Urban School Food Alliance! This movement away from polystyrene trays is gaining traction! http://www.npr.org/…/schools-say-ciao-to-plastic-lunch-tray
Urban School Food Alliance – Replacing Plastic Sporks in School Cafeterias
The six school districts that make up the Urban School Food Alliance are using their collective purchasing power to replace the traditional plastic spork in school cafeterias with knives, forks and spoons made of compostable materials....
Clif Bar “Toolkit” Funding
Every Tray Counts (ETC) has been awarded a grant from the Clif Bar Family Foundation to help fund the development of a school lunch education “toolkit.” We will engage with groups of NC stakeholders to put together this project, and through this grant we hope to make...
Durham Public Schools Updates
Two weeks ago, Every Tray Counts received an exciting email from several people that live in Durham and are involved with helping the public school lunch rooms go compostable! This is from an email sent to parents and others in Durham from the Executive...
Earth Day Updates
Here are some Earth Day updates! Julie Hall from the PTA (she is also an Environmental Educator) and I (from Every Tray Counts) had a table at the Adams Elementary School Carnival. There was lots of activity, from games to contests to raffles. Julie runs the Garden...
Thank you to Brooks Composting!
Brooks Composting donated 5 bags of compost to the Adams Elementary School Carnival. They were a big topic, along with several jars of compost in different stages of decomposition. Thank you Amy Brooks of Brooks Composting for your support!
Help Expand Database about Food Waste and Recycling in NC Schools!
Every Tray Counts has joined with the Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) in the interest of compiling more data on waste in public schools. The School Cafeteria Discards Assessment Program (SCrAP) aims to quantify both food waste and related wastes...
Adams Elementary School Earth Day
ETC is joining with the Adams Elementary School PTA in Cary for their Earth Day activities. Please come by on Saturday, April 22 and say hi. We will be answering questions about the Sustainability Pilot in the Adams Elementary School lunch room, and showcasing some of...
Chapel Hill Herald-Sun Coverage
The Chapel Hill Herald-Sun featured Every Tray Counts in June of 2016. They highlighted how ETC works to create sustainable lunchrooms in schools and the success at Adams Elementary School in Wake County that has included diverting 1700 pounds of food waste so far!...
Bailey Endowment Thank You
Every Tray Counts would like to thank the Bailey Endowment for their generous contribution! Your efforts will help advance ETC's mission of creating more sustainable lunchrooms across North Carolina and the donation is much appreciated.
Whole Foods Thank You
Every Tray Counts would like to thank Whole Foods in Raleigh for their help creating more sustainable school lunchrooms in the Triangle and across North Carolina. On May 31, ETC received 5% of the net sales from the Wade Avenue and Six Forks Road locations which...
Whole Foods 5% Community Giving Day – Tuesday May 31st for ETC!
Whole Food is donating 5% of the entire days sales from two stores in Wake County on Tuesday, May 31st. We are conducting a pilot effort at Adams Elementary School to replace polystyrene trays and divert the majority of waste through composting and recycling! The...
News Archives
Exciting New Collaboration
At Earth Day 2014, ETC and Food FWD were invited by Don’t Waste Durham to share their booth. Bryant Holsenbeck (an environmental artist) graciously created this polystyrene snake for our booth. Since the start of Every Tray Counts in 2014, Noah...
Wildlife Over Waste Event, June 6, 2018 at 11:30 AM
Environment North Carolina's new campaign aims to protect our wildlife by banning harmful and unnecessary plastic pollution, starting with polystyrene--the stuff we call styrofoam. The campaign will work to bolster local efforts already underway. Their event tomorrow...
WRAL TV Coverage
WRAL TV highlighted Every Tray Counts' program at Kingswood Elementary in Cary! There are significant environmental benefits to composting and removing foam trays in addition to financial cost savings as schools save on waste diversion costs. We are thankful to all...
Call for Donations
Every Tray Counts (ETC) is dedicated to working with children, parents, and communities to work with North Carolina school districts to engage in responsible purchasing and waste diversion practices. Our goals are to remove polystyrene trays and other potentially...
Kingswood Elementary School is a winner!
Here are their waste diversion numbers so far this year! January: 619 pounds February: 1,407 pounds March: 1,933 pounds Thank you Kingswood staff and students!
Help Wake County Schools go Sustainable
Help Wake County Schools Go Sustainable Are you aware that Wake County Public Schools are using polystyrene trays in the lunchroom? That’s over 50,000 trays per day for lunch alone! Compostable trays and the kitchen food waste could be composted. Every Tray Counts...
Kingswood Elementary Waste Audit
The School Cafeteria Discards Assessment Project (SCRAP) highlighted the waste audit being performed at Kingwood Elementary in Cary, NC. Volunteers, Every Tray Counts, and others participated. Way to go! https://erefdn.org/school-cafeteria-waste/
Every Tray Counts is Growing!
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...
ETC Toolkit Announcement
We Need You! Help us develop the “toolkit” for NC schools! As you know, Every Tray Counts is dedicated to working with children, parents, communities, and interested participants within North Carolina School districts to engage in responsible purchasing and waste...
SCrAP Project
The School Cafeteria Discards Assessment Project (SCrAP), developed by the Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF), focuses on collecting waste quantities in school cafeterias and understanding how it is managed. Schools are able to sign up and...