VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County Schools is launching a brand new environmentally friendly project at Osceola Elementary School this week.
It's all centered on reducing waste at meal times.
- Volusia elementary school is trying out biodegradable lunch trays
- Depending on how pilot program does, they plan to spread it to other schools
- Officials monitoring how much plastic they save from ending up in landfill
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Jacob Jennings, a fifth grader, never considered how much plastic was used in the cafeteria.
“It kind of made me feel a little weird, because I never really thought about it,” Jennings said.
But starting this week, Jennings and all the other students are getting their lunch a little differently.
On Monday, the school switched from using styrofoam trays to new biodegradable trays.
“Since they are biodegradable that means that they are basically going to decompose better,” Jennings said.
The students also have new dispensers for their utensils and will no longer be using straws.
The idea came from Ormond Beach Commissioner Susan Persis, who is behind the local straw ban, along with Dream Green Volusia.
“(With) my husband Carl, who is chairman of the school board, we decided it would be a great idea to get some schools to stop using styrofoam plates and all of the little straws and sporks that they use in schools,” Persis said,
During this pilot period, they will monitor how much plastic they save from ending up in the landfill.
“We are trying to reduce the single use serve plastic so by serving everything directly on the tray over time we will eventually achieve that goal,” said Heather DeMeola, Director of School Way Cafe.
So far, students like Jennings said they are proud of the change.
“If you don’t take care of the environment, it’s kind of like having a messy room at your house,” he said.
If they determine at the end of this pilot that this new initiative does save plastic, they plan to spread it to other schools. Volusia County schools serves roughly 2.3 million breakfasts and 5.4 million lunches every year.