© John Murden

This photo is pretty much what a school lunch in New York City public schools looks like. Complete with styrofoam tray. An estimated number of 1.2 million schoolchildren in New York’s 1400 public schools eat their lunches using those trays. Some children bring their lunches, of course, but others also get breakfast at school on those trays. So that means that probably a million styrofoam trays are tossed into landfills each school day. It’s horrifying to keep going with the math  on that one.

I did see a shining beacon of hope that change might come to the schools. I toured The Brooklyn New School yesterday. It’s a magnet school started by some hippie parents in the 80s. Besides all of the hands-on programs they offer the students, they also organize a CSA (community supported agriculture) and they compost the student’s lunches. Yes, you heard that correctly. The students sort their food into compostable and non-compostable food. They have a big compost bin that generates a lot of heat, and they use the soil. I think they said that they have reduced the food waste by 80%. Isn’t that amazing??? Very inspiring. I’m not sure Lindsay will go to that school, but if she doesn’t, I think I will try and use their model to start a composting program at her school.

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