Alternatives to Styrofoam Lunch Trays

Polystyrene lunch trays are used in schools across the country, and the waste they create is very damaging to the environment. Polystyrene products require large quantities of petroleum products for their creation, and recycling them produces even more pollution. The trays themselves can take hundreds of years to biodegrade, causing more pollution in the process. Fortunately, there are alternatives to polystyrene lunch trays.

Plastic Lunch Trays

• Replacing polystyrene lunch trays with reusable plastic trays is an easy way to find an alternative to the damaging lunch trays commonly used. The plastic trays are washable and can be used repeatedly for years, in contrast to the polystyrene trays that can only be used once before being thrown away. Plastic trays can be expensive, but the one-time cost of using the trays is outweighed by the environmental cost of using polystyrene trays.

Sugar Cane Trays

• Biodegradable trays are available, made from pressed sugar cane. These trays are more costly than polystyrene trays, but they can be recycled and disposed of easily. However, a separate disposal method does need to be put in place in order to get the trays to a facility where they will biodegrade properly. These trays do not always biodegrade in landfills because they are not in contact with beneficial bacteria there, according to Green Living Tips.

Trayless Meals

• According to Bonner Springs, choosing one day out of each week to use paper plates or bags to serve food can act as an alternative to polystyrene trays. Although this solution still involves the use of the trays, removing them for 20 percent of the year can amount to a huge savings in cost and for the environmental. The Bonner Springs students chose "Trayless Tuesdays" to be their contribution to finding polystyrene tray alternatives.