1 Sign Our Petition:
STYROFOAM FOOD TRAYS OUT OF NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS NOW!
We, the undersigned, call on Mayor Michael Bloomberg, our City Council Members, and the New York City Department of Education (DOE) to address the serious environmental and health risks of Styrofoam food tray use in NYC public schools by:
2. achieving ZERO Styrofoam tray use in NYC schools by September 2010
Polystyrene, which is commonly referred to as Styrofoam, can remain intact for hundreds of years before decomposing, takes up a disproportionate amount of space in our nation's landfills, is one of the primary components of marine debris, and can be harmful to birds and marine mammals.
NYC schools are the nation’s second-leading consumer of Styrofoam trays, tossing out 850,000 per day and 153 million trays per year! What lessons are schools teaching our children by filling the world with such debris? We can leave a better legacy,
Styrofoam is made with styrene, a chemical which can damage the brain and central nervous system. Styrofoam trays can leach chemicals into the food consumed by NYC school children who eat directly off the trays. Children participating in the city’s free breakfast/lunch program eat off of two such trays a day! In 2006, New York State passed a law requiring schools to use cleaning products free of carcinogens and reproductive toxins. The same standards should apply to Styrofoam trays.
Currently, every child is given a tray even if the child only gets a sandwich or milk carton. We demand an immediate REDUCE TRAY USE Campaign to discourage waste. We endorse reusable, non-leaching trays as an alternative to Styrofoam trays. Where this is not possible, we seek use of recyclable or biodegradable trays.
To protect the future of our children, we, the undersigned, demand elimination of Styrofoam trays from the NYC public school system as soon as possible.
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3 Pass our info along to all your friends
4 Look for our Rally Information in the Fall
5 Impatient For Change?
Here are the steps to get Styrofoam Trays out and Sugar Cane Trays in
1) Start a Wellness Committee in your school. Every school is mandated to have one!
Have your PTA decide on funding the extra cost per tray (some schools have found a sponsor). Notify your Principal you want to change the trays. Get a signed letter from your principal agreeing to the change. If you share your building with other schools all Principals must agree.
2) Set up an appointment with your School Food Regional Director.
Contact Office of School Food at (718) 707-4300 to find out who your Regional Manager is.
3) School Foods does all the math and tells you what the amount will be. You will send monthly checks to Dianne Frankel, School Food, 44-36 Vernon Blvd. Long Island City, NY 11101
4) Congratulations your children will not be eating off Styrene anymore.
Tray Specs: PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
Product: 5 compartment molded fiber school lunch tray
Brand: First Choice and Sunshine Brands
Model number: KE5/KY5
Raw Material: 85% Sugar Cane Pulp, 12% Wood Pulp, 3% Starch
Recycle Material: 100% pre consumer sugar cane/wood pulp clipping
Surface Treatment: None
Certificate: Independent labs certification that tray meets FDA CFR title 21 requirements.
Quality: Food Grade
Food Contact: Allowed
Biodegradable: 100% 180 days in the right conditions.
Compostable 100%
Outer Appearance: One side smooth/One side Mesh
Performance: Water/Grease resistant, microwaveable, convection warmer to 250
Production: Automatic pulp molding machine with stacking system.
No Human contact. Fully automatic.
Richard Lillien, Appco Paper & Plastics Corp., Ph. 1-516-608-9200
