EVERY TRAY COUNTS
Thank you for your interest in Every Tray Counts!
The organization is currently transitioning to become a state program under the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
The Recycling and Materials Management Section (RMMS) will relaunch the program in 2024. Thank you for your patience during this time. For more information and to be kept in the loop about this transition please visit our contact page!
Our Story
It all started with lunch! A conversation between two moms about our kids’ daily lunches led us to a little known fact: most schools have moved away from re-usable trays and are using polystyrene trays.
The concern for the health of our children and our environment propelled us into action. We had read that polystyrene can leach into food when it is hot, and that it is rarely recycled.
We approached the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School system with the interest of replacing polystyrene trays used in school cafeterias with a compostable alternative. They enthusiastically agreed to a pilot!
The pilot grew from its original focus on reducing the exposure of our children to polystyrene trays into a school lunchroom project in favor of compostable trays and food waste diversion. Students, school administrators, staff and the community dedicated time and resources to this effort.
In August 2013, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools committed to use compostable trays instead of polystyrene trays with the start of the new school year. Since then, Every Tray Counts has helped schools divert tons of compostable waste to a compost facility, and removed thousands of polystyrene trays from the waste stream.
Our hope is that the success of community efforts in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district will inspire other school districts across North Carolina to join the movement to replace polystyrene trays with a compostable alternative in school cafeterias. We look forward to hearing from you!
Every Tray Counts, Every Throw Counts, Every Time Counts!