RANGERS TO THE RESCUE- CafCu NEWS- June 2013

During the past school year, our Cafeteria Culture team, volunteers, and student Cafeteria Rangers have worked hard and witnessed fantastic changes.

• We advocated for banning plastic-foam (polystyrene) trays and to-go containers, parading our giant NO-STYRO PUPPETS to show the public and elected officials what school garbage data actually looks like!

• We designed and taught K-5th grade curriculum, including stewardship, the how with the why of waste reduction, and how design, consumption & disposal choices connect to Climate Change.

• We collaborated at all levels, learning from students and school staff, then sharing valuable on-the-ground information with city and federal government agencies.

• We led student prototyping workshops; assisted with the piloting of new lunch trays, waste sorting stations, signage, and composting; and we surveyed students.

Our work has sparked a tremendous forward momentum, influencing policy and solid waste management citywide!
(** scroll to the bottom to read  what NYC School Chancellor Walcott has said about our work)

• NYC's 860,000 plastic-foam (polystyrene) school lunch trays used per day are on their way out!

• The city announced plans to roll out composting of all food waste in all 1700 public schools by Fall 2014.

• Schools and residents can now recycle all rigid plastics, including cafeteria sporks!

Thank you Mayor Bloomberg, NYC Department of Education and Department of Sanitation for significantly decreasing our carbon and methane producing school garbage and creating assets with  recyclable materials and composted food scraps!

Yet, with all the new procedures, bins, and signage on the way, two essential components for successfully reducing school garbage are missing: Student ENGAGEMENT and EDUCATION! 

Please DONATE and help us to complete Phase 1 of  our MULTI-MEDIA TOOLKIT, How to Set-up the Cafeteria Ranger Program, so we can share this with allschools, regardless of resources, next school year!

The Cafeteria Waste Reduction multi-media TOOLKIT  will include:

• "how-to" peer-to-peer video shorts
• animation
• songs
• downloadable signs and badges
• scheduling templates
• companion lesson plans

The TOOLKIT will provide schools with all the resources needed to implement a successful Cafeteria Ranger program on their own.