LYNNFIELD — Two high school students urged the School Committee on Tuesday to give up single-use polystyrene plastic in the cafeteria.
Lynnfield High School seniors Shane McQueen and Jake Mallett presented to the School Committee their research into the use of polystyrene plastics at the cafeteria and educated on possible alternatives to improve the environmental imprint of the school.
“This started off as a quarter project,” said Mallett. “We chose to improve the use of polystyrene and single-use plastics.”
As a result of their research, Mallet and McQueen came to the conclusion that the school should switch to using hard-plastic reusable trays and stainless-steel utensils, which would not only be better for the environment and students, but would save the school money.
After presenting their project at the school science fair, the two students decided to take it further. They secured statements from the town’s Recycling Committee and the Tree Committee in support of their proposal and brought it to the School Committee.
Every year, 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the oceans, said Mallet, while the average lifespan of single-use plastic pieces is 12 minutes.
“We don’t need to take part in the destruction of our oceans but right now every day of school, where we have single-use plastic, we are,” said McQueen.
The high-school cafeteria currently serves food to students in Styrofoam clamshell boxes, which are not recyclable, McQueen said. The same goes for single-use fruit cups and juice cups.
“Whatever lunch you get at the high school it will be in one of those containers,” he said.
McQueen and Mallett said the school creates 18 full trash barrels of unrecyclable plastic a day during the three lunch periods. This means that the school throws away about $11,500 each year it spends on non-recyclable boxes and utensils, the students said.
The students were also concerned that these plastics create a hazard for students’ health. Mallet cited a study that showed that plastic food containers contain BPA (bisphenol A), BPS (bisphenol S) and other endocrine disruptors.
In addition to reusable trays and utensils, McQueen and Mallett suggested installing a sorting station in the cafeteria for different types of trash, including type-one and -two plastics and food scraps. The school has recently installed a compost bin, but non-compostable items and trash sometimes ended up in it.
“We need more education,” McQueen said. “As part of our course, we have gardens and the compost from the cafeteria could be used in the gardens or sent off to Black Earth (Black Earth Compost, LLC).”
The students said a simple presentation at the assembly would be enough to instruct all high school students about the changes. Some consequences could be introduced for intentional violation of rules.
“I have faith in 14-year-old and older people,” said McQueen. “I really hope that (if) they can pass some of the classes at the high school that they will be able to properly return a fork and a tray to an area of the lunch room and not just throw it out or break it.”
As for cleaning reusable items, the two students calculated that having one employee wash them for two hours a day at $35 for the whole school year would cost $12,000, which could be redirected from the funds that were previously spent on buying single-use plastic.
The students looked into compostable utensils as well, but their proposal turned out more economically feasible.
Some form of polystyrene has been already banned in 54 Massachusetts towns, Mallet said. The state of New York has banned single-use polystyrene containers starting Jan. 1. Costa Rica chose to ban single-use polystyrene containers in 2019.
“If the state of New York ― a very highly-populated state ― can do it, there is no reason why us as a town or even just the high school can’t make this switch,” Mallet said.
“McDonald’s stopped using styrofoam in 1990, over 30 years ago,” said McQueen. “Right now, they are serving safer food than our school, which is very concerning.”
He said if the school wants to truly become sustainable, as it claims to be, it must switch out the single-use plastics and Styrofoam for proper reusable plastic trays and metal utensils.
“We need to minimize the damage that is already coming from climate change and stop trashing the planet with plastic,” McQueen said.
The School Committee praised the students for their project and asked various clarifying questions about the proposal and cost calculations.
“I’d say if we are 30 years behind McDonald’s, that’s kind of a problem,” said Phil McQueen, member of the committee.
Stacy Dahlstedt, vice chair, acknowledged the level of detail and passion with which the two students approached their project and presentation.
“I really appreciate your honesty and your ingenuity, your creativity and really the desire to help us out with solutions,” Dahlstedt said.
The School Committee did not mention if they are going to further consider the proposed change.