Nampa School District says it's going green by switching to Styrofoam trays
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The District had planned to by a $12,000 machine to recycle them. Video by IdahoOnYourSide.com
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The Nampa School District says it's going green by switching from reusable cafeteria trays to Styrofoam ones.
The plan was to save some green by eliminating dish washing costs, and then save the environment by recycling the trays.
But so far that plan is being thrown out – literally.
The School District said they'd buy a $12,000 recycling machine for those disposable cafeteria trays. They said that would save money over time by reducing costs for all that dish washing. But the School District says they don’t have the funding right now.
"Initially we thought we could use some federal funds, but it now looks like we need to use other funds and we're just waiting for an audit to wrap up so we can buy the machine," said Alison Westfall, Nampa School District spokesperson.
But teachers and students are expressing their concerns about the number of trays being dumped in the meantime time.
"We felt like hypocrites that we were putting Styrofoam trays into the landfills," said Endeavor Elementary teacher Sonia Galaviz, who teaches her fifth graders about being good stewards of the earth. "The actual making of Styrofoam is toxic. It is full of chemicals. There’s nothing natural about Styrofoam. So I’m concerned we’re using it in the first place, whether or not it can be recycled."
Students in her class calculated that at this rate, the School District would dump just under 1.2 million trays per school year.
The School District says they hope to have the machine by the end of October.
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