Take climate action in your cafeteria!
Started by students!
Join the action!
**Reduce plastic waste
from school, home, and store-bought lunch.
#plasticfreelunch
It's possible!
Join the action!
**Reduce plastic waste
from school, home, and store-bought lunch.
#plasticfreelunch
It's possible!
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What is Plastic Free Lunch Day?- A day when school lunch is prepared without plastic!
- A step towards eliminating all cafeteria single-use plastic. - An action day to reduce as much plastic as possible, - A campaign to dramatically reduce plastic use in all schools News 12 - May 16, 2022, Plastic Free Lunch Day at NYC Schools |
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New York City, May 16, 2022
School lunches were prepared without plastic in over 750 NYC elementary schools! Cafeteria Culture in partnership with NYC Department of Education Office of Food and Nutrition Services & Office of Sustainability, and students led this first New York City-wide Plastic Free Lunch Day. It's a VICTORY! Press Release -> What's next?
Ideas from students:
What can you do at your school toDAY?
Ask your school food manager to:
Lead a plastic free campaign to:
See how NYC schools prepared for the day! |
Lead a Plastic Free Lunch Day or Action
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Get started
STEP 1: LEARN ABOUT THE PLASTIC POLLUTION PROBLEM!
- Host A SCREENING OF MICROPLASTIC MADNESS Special movie screening offers for ALL K-12 schools - Free for all NYC public schools all of May 2022 - Fee Waiver for any public school outside of NYC that commits to leading a Plastic Free Lunch Day during May 2022
Step 2: STUDENTS, TAKE plastic-free action
We suggest starting with Data Collection! (SCROLL DOWN to "RESOURCES" to view & download all PDFs) Cafeteria Plastic SEARCH (Individual student activity, Observation)
Cafeteria Plastic SURVEY - a waste audit, group activity for a class, team or club) and Plastic Free ACTIONS at school Not a NYC school?
Step 3: partner with us on plastic free action.
- It's easy. Share Photos, Data, Actions! ALL SCHOOLS: 1- SHARE YOUR PHOTOS
("After" means the day-of PLASTIC FREE LUNCH or another plastic reduction day, at the end of the lunch period) 2 -SHARE YOUR DATA. Before and After Plastic Free Lunch Day, collect plastic data and SHARE to inspire others. Upload here-> We especially need your DATA and PHOTOS from a lunch day before May 16th and from the day of May 16th, or your school's PLASTIC FREE LUNCH DAY. 3. SHARE OTHER ACTION PHOTOS & DATA. Inspire others with your plastic free actions! See suggestions below. Upload here-> 4. STUDENTS, SHARE social media posts, videos, and posters and other examples to inspire others. ----- Upload ALL PHOTOS AND DATA SURVEY SHEETS here -> THANK YOU! Your shared photos and data sheets will be used by the Cafeteria Culture team to inform policy makers and accelerate change. Why bother for just one day?
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Easy Plastic Free Lunch actions
NO PLASTIC ______ DAY!
Simplify the day with a focus on reducing just one kind of single-use plastic packaging, such as a: - NO PLASTIC STRAW DAY (more ideas for reducing plastic straws ->) - NO CONDIMENT PACKET DAY - ask your school food manager if they can serve condiments in refillable containers or dispensers. We suggest always starting with a before survey (or audit). Example: the steps for a "NO PLASTIC STRAW DAY": - 1 - Set out a box and sign to collect all the plastic straws used ruing one lunch period or during all school lunch periods. - 2 - Count the straws and photograph all the straws (lay them out on a dark background). - 3 - Publicize the number of straws collected on that one day and the date of your NO PLASTIC STRAW DAY" - 4 - On the day of the initiative, once again collect any plastic straws and photograph - 5 - Make posters with the 'before" and "after" data and photos - 6 - Interview students and staff to find out what others suggest to do next to reduce single-use plastics and other packaging. BRING YOUR OWN ______ DAY!
- BRING YOUR OWN FORK (and napkin) DAY
- BRING YOUR CUP or REUSABLE BOTTLE DAY 
From the movie, "Microplastic Madness"
TAKE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED - communication
- Make creative signage to encourage plastic waste reduction or use the flyer provided below; place near dispensers. - Ask teachers to remind students just before lunch. - Make announcements! - Lead a before count of plastic utensils thrown away on a single day, start your campaign, then do an after count. Compare and publicize results. PROMOTE A REUSE CULTURE - EVERYDAY!
Ask your food service manager to: - Offer plastic utensils by request only on days when pizza, burritos, and other hand-held foods are served. Salad bars can be stocked with cut vegetables. - Serve all condiments and sauces in reusable dispensers or bottles. - If your meals come packaged with the utensils, ask to try a new method of offering utensils. - If your utensils and napkins come together in plastic wrap, ask for individual utensils and napkins! GRATITUDE DAY!
"Thank your kitchen and custodial staff and school cafeteria aides!
- Hang up special "thank you' posters in the cafeteria with staff names. - Encourage students to say "please" and "thank you" in the food line. - Make a special "thank you" announcement at the end of the lunch period and invite kitchen and custodial staff to join you! - Thank kitchen and custodial staff during school assemblies and recognize the work they do for the school community. Showing gratitude supports positive change-making and builds community! For inspiration, show our video, "School Lunch in Japan- it's not just about eating" (34 million views on YouTube!) 
More PLASTIC FREE ACTIONS for school, work, and COmmunity!
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⬇︎ Scroll down for all free downloadable resources ⬇︎
The Plastic Problem, Plastics and Health,
Survey & Search Sheets, Lessons, Flyers, Letter Templates,
and "Microplastic Madness" movie Screenings
The Plastic Problem, Plastics and Health,
Survey & Search Sheets, Lessons, Flyers, Letter Templates,
and "Microplastic Madness" movie Screenings
An award winning, uplifting documentary, starring Brooklyn's PS15 5th grade students, who started the first Plastic Free Lunch Day!
See how 5th grade students led the first
NYC Plastic Free Lunch Day in their school as documented in our award winning movie, MICROPLASTIC MADNESS. (watch the trailer & host a screening) |
PS 15 Brooklyn 5th grade students in the movie, "Microplastic Madness"
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RESOURCES
Single-use Plastic
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Plastics and HealthGetting push-back?:
Download our PDF, COVID & PLASTIC FOODWARE Why Grab and Go Food Dispensing Methods do not Prevent COVID-19 Transmission How plastic is making us fat & sick Plastic threatens human health in two ways: (1) As a toxic food contact material that transfers chemicals into food, and (2) as toxic plastic particle pollution that enters our bodies. Plastic packaging and foodware (bottles, plates, cups, utensils) are so common, we assume they are safe. But thousands of (mostly unknown and untested) toxic chemicals that make up plastic migrate (move) from plastics into our food and drink. Read more -> |
Flyers, Survey & Search Sheets, Letter Templates
⬇︎View & Download⬇︎
Flyers
Print these or create your own!
Share your creations on social media and tag us
Twitter @CafeteriaCu IG @CafCu FB CafeteriaCulture TikTok @CafeteriaCu
#plasticfreelunch #cafcu
For elementary schools, cups and utensils. Download the 2-page PDF ->
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For all schools. Download PDF >
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MEASURE YOUR PLASTIC USE!
Conduct a Survey
Conduct a Survey
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PLASTIC SEARCH (observation) - easy - Individual student activity for lunch period with lesson plan (PDF, 3 pages, with Teacher Notes) (PDF, 1 page) |
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PLASTIC SURVEY (or waste audit) - Group Activity for class, small group, Green Team, or club (PDF, 4 pages with photo examples and Terminology) (PDF, 1 page) |
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More:
Screenings are free for all Title 1 or under-resourced schools;
Free for all NYC DOE schools for all of May 2022
see all options here->
Free for all NYC DOE schools for all of May 2022
see all options here->
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Be inspired by the 5th grade students
from PS 15 in Brooklyn, who started Plastic Free Lunch Day! ⬇︎ |
Related news articles for classroom discussion
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excerpt: But critics say the marine impact of plastics is only part of the problem. “Plastic pollution is not just an oceans issue. It’s a climate issue and it’s a human health issue,” said Claire Arkin, communications coordinator for the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, a global network aiming to reduce pollution and eliminate waste incineration. Plastics have become essential components of products and packaging because they’re durable, lightweight, and cheap. But though they offer numerous benefits, plastics originate as fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases from cradle to grave, according to a May 2019 report called “Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet,” released by the Center for International Environmental Law, a nonprofit environmental law organization. Plastic has a really big carbon Footprint --
But That Isn't The Whole Story Adapted from NPR July 2019 - for 5th grade "The key message that people should take away is that the plastics crisis is a climate crisis hiding in plain sight," Muffett says. ORIGINAL ARTICLE U.S. plastics recycling rate slumps below 6 percent, analysis finds
The washington Post, May 4, 2022 excerpt: “The plastics industry must stop lying to the public about plastics recycling. It does not work, it never will work, and no amount of false advertising will change that,” said Judith Enck, who heads Beyond Plastics and served as a regional EPA administrator during the Obama administration. “Instead, we need consumer brand companies and governments to adopt policies that reduce the production, usage and disposal of plastics.” Though plastics use fell in the early days of the pandemic, consumption has surged along with economic activity. Meanwhile, plastic waste exports — which the authors said are counted toward recycling numbers without proof — have plummeted in the wake of import bans by countries such as China and Turkey. Deluge of plastic waste’: US is world’s biggest plastic polluter The Guardian, December 1, 2021,
excerpt: At 42m metric tons of plastic waste a year, the US generates more waste than all EU countries combined. The advent of cheap, versatile plastics has created “a global scale deluge of plastic waste seemingly everywhere we look”, the report states, with the US a leading contributor of disposable plastics that ends up entangling and choking marine life, harming ecosystems and bringing harmful pollution up through the food chain. Chemical pollution has passed safe limit for humanity, say scientists The Guardian, January 18, 2022
excerpt: The cocktail of chemical pollution that pervades the planet now threatens the stability of global ecosystems upon which humanity depends, scientists have said. Plastics are of particularly high concern, they said, along with 350,000 synthetic chemicals including pesticides, industrial compounds and antibiotics. Plastic pollution is now found from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans, and some toxic chemicals, such as PCBs, are long-lasting and widespread. |
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Youth POV +action on climate, racial justice, human rights, policy, public school & more! |
WHY CAFETERIA CULTURE?
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Cafeteria Culture was founded as the grassroots STYROFOAM OUT OF SCHOOLS campaign in 2009. Students, parents and school food directors came together to find creative solutions to rid NYC school cafeterias of 850,000 styrofoam trays thrown away per day.
The result: VICTORY! Working together, we catalyzed the complete elimination of a half a BILLION styrofoam trays per year from incinerators, landfills and student meals in schools across the US. Together, we can win this next environmental and health victory and dramatically decrease single-use plastics in school cafeterias everywhere! |
Youth Rally to Ban Foam, NY City Hall, 2018, as seen in "Microplastic Madness" Photo: Erik Mcgregor
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