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Cafeteria Culture
  • About
    • About
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  • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • Host a screening
    • The Plastic Pollution Crisis
    • Creative Team and Credits
    • Movie Feedback
  • Plastic Free Lunch
    • Plastic Free Lunch
    • FAQs - Plastic Free Lunch Day
    • PFLD School Food Service
    • Action Plan ideas - PFLD
    • NYC Plastic Free Lunch Days
  • Take Action Toolkits
    • K-12 Toolkit - Plastic Free Lunch Day
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    • DIY DATA ACTION litter cleanup >
      • DATA +ACTION litter clean up
      • Student and Teacher Litter Data Collection
    • SORT2SAVE KIT >
      • SORT2SAVE KIT - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Downloads - S2S - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Daily Operations - S2S - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Videos - Cafeteria Rangers
      • S2s Quick Launch Guide
      • Job Descriptions for Cafeteria Rangers
      • SORT2save Cheer! - lyrics + video
      • SORT2SAVE - About, Partners, License Agreement
    • Foam Trays Out of Schools >
      • NYC Foam Ban
      • Trayless Tuesdays
      • No-Styro Puppets
      • FAQs - Getting Styrofoam Out of Schools
    • Alternative Messaging
    • Action at home
    • Action on Policy >
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      • NY Bag Bill
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New York City
Department of Education Schools

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March 5, 2025
March 26, 2025
​April 2nd, 2025


NYC Plastic Free Lunch Day!

​
Plastic Free Lunch Day is now a monthly menu day
in all NYC DOE elementary schools.


⬇︎  Share our new Plastic Free Lunch Day USA celebration video ⬇︎
Watch video on Vimeo->

Cafeteria Culture, in partnership with NYC DOE Office of Food & Nutrition Services & Office of Sustainability are keeping Plastic Free Lunch Days going!

ON April 17, 2024, NYC will join large and small school districts across the country to reduce plastic packaging and plastic foodware from school food service. 


Be a part of this exciting national plastic-free action, started by 5th grade students at PS 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn!
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Elementary Schools

Elementary schools are automatically participating in Plastic Free Lunch Day (PFLD) with support of kitchen and cafeteria staff.  Check out the DOE PK-8 menus. Lunches should be served without plastic packaging, a huge step towards reducing waste and taking climate action. Please thank your kitchen staff!

Use our free resources to promote NYC DOE monthly Plastic Free Lunch Days. Find posters, lesson plans, morning announcements, letter templates, and easy plastic waste audits.  
  • Start by screening our award winning movie, Microplastic Madness, available for all K-12 schools for free from March 1 - April 30, 2024! Get your link and password now. ​

Measure your plastic use and impact with a Plastic Waste Audit      
  • Single-use PLASTIC SEARCH (easy) - Individual student activity for lunch period with lesson plan. Students collect data from school, home or store-bought lunch to gain understanding of the plastic pollution problem. Complete with teacher notes and Single-Use Plastic SEARCH Worksheet. 
If your kitchen staff is not aware of Plastic Free Lunch Day, please ask the cook in charge to speak with the School Food Service Manager. Ask to partner with the school food service team to implement a full PFLD or begin by reducing specific single use plastic items on Plastic Free Lunch Days and every day! Share the resource page for school food teams and this video.
​​
We also suggest reaching out to your principal for support. 
Microplastic Madness - the movie
K-12 Cafeteria Plastic Reduction
Easy Implementations for one day & every day!


The May 2022 New York Citywide PFLD showed that several easy school food service changes can result in cost savings (see our 
PFLD Cost-savings Report)

​Meet with your school food manager to ask for these changes:
  1. replace single-use condiment packets with bulk service of sauces/dressings
  2. wrap sandwiches in bulk (put in serving trays with an aluminum foil cover instead of individually wrapped with plastic film); and 
  3. offer plastic utensils "by request only."
​Announcements & Letter Templates
  • Morning Announcements Template (for 5 days leading up to PFLD)​
  • NYC Letter template to Families for monthly Plastic Free Lunch Days (copy and adapt; for NYC DOE K-8 schools)
  • NYC Letter SPANISH template to Families for monthly Plastic Free Lunch Days (copiar y adaptar)
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​Inspire your students with our award winning movie
watch the trailer ->

Middle & High Schools

Middle and high schools kitchens have different types of meal service than elementary schools. You can still reduce the use of plastics by engaging both staff and students.
​

Here are some tips:
  • Host a screening of our award winning movie, Microplastic Madness, available for free all of Mar - Apr 2024! Get your link now:  https://forms.gle/DoxViqrq8eTg5HF7A​
  • Encourage students & staff to bring their own reusable bottles & safe reusable cutlery – a raffle or prize can be a good incentive for participation 
  • Measure your plastic use and impact with a Plastic Waste Audit  
    • Single-use PLASTIC SEARCH (easy) - Individual student activity for lunch period with lesson plan. Students collect data from school, home or store-bought lunch to gain understanding of the plastic pollution problem. Complete with teacher notes and Single-Use Plastic SEARCH Worksheet. 
    • CAFETERIA PLASTIC SURVEY (requires planning) - How to lead a waste audit activity for a class, small group, Green Team, or club. COLLECT before & after DATA to inform others & support your actions. Design & test SOLUTIONS to reduce single use plastics.  ( DATA COLLECTION sheet for Cafeteria Plastic SURVEY)       
  • Reduce just one kind of single-use plastic packaging, such as straws or condiment packets (dispense from squeeze bottles or spoon/ladle directly onto plates).
​
  • Lead a "Take Only What You Need" or "Skip the Stuff" campaign. Ask your school food staff to hand out utensils, napkins, and other single-use items by request only, instead of automatically serving with each meal.  Get downloadable flyers ->​

More ACTION PLAN IDEAS for PFLD ->

​​Easy Plastic Free (Lunch)
Actions 
for every day!
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 during 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
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From the movie, "Microplastic Madness"
lead a "TAKE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED Day"/ #SkipTheStuff  
- Make creative signage to encourage plastic waste reduction or use the flyer provided (see PFLD Resources page) and 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!)

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More PLASTIC FREE ACTIONS for school, work, and COmmunity!
  • ​Hold a fundraiser to buy reusable bottles or utensils for all students.
  • Create an education campaign to promote reduction of single-use plastics and reusables for home and store bought lunches.
  • Create an education campaign focused on reducing a specific single-use plastic item and offer solutions.
  • Create a utensil/packet/straw "by request only" action;  meet with your principal and school food manager to ask that these plastic items not be given out automatically. Create signs and an information campaign.  (see signs below in "Resource" section or make your own and share with us)
  • Conduct a survey of plastic waste or street/beach litter at  school/work/community to inform & persuade. (use our "DIY: DATA +ACTION litter clean up" guide!)
  • Create banners, posters or flyers about single use plastics to inform students, school staff and community to #uselessplastic.
  • Create an art installation or giant puppets using single use plastics as 3 dimensional data to inform & persuade.
  • Perform a theater piece, poetry, or music (on the streets or indoors) to engage new audiences on the plastic pollution issues and reduction.
  • Learn about local/state plastic-reduction bills/proposals and ask to meet with your local and state legislators to inform & persuade. Sharing your data helps! (find some NY and US bills ->)
  • Start planning now for a spring 2023 Plastic Free Lunch Day!
  • Lead  a "Write a Letter to the Editor" campaign or teach a lesson with our guidelines.
  • Write a letter to your principal, school food manager, and school board to request future Plastic Free Lunch Days as regular weekly or monthly menu days! (see our Sample Letter to the  Principal ->)
  • Ask to present to PTA and school board.

Youth-led Action

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  • Lead a Creative Messaging Campaign!
  • ​For High School Students
How to Drive Change In Your School Cafeteria - A Guide for High School Students,
adapted from the work of Gauri Rastogi, high school senior and CafCu Youth Advocate and intern, based on her years of advocating to eliminate styrofoam trays from her school district in MIchigan.

  • For College & High School Students 
Step by Step College Guide and Survey, Plastic Free Lunch Day and plastic free action ideas for every day!

​​
More Free Resources for K-12 -> 

movies, morning announcements, letter templates, posters, lessons & activities
for teachers, administrators, staff, students, parents
​


Resources for School Food Service Teams -->
​

Why Plastic Free Lunch Day?

US Schools serve 7.35 billion meals annually.  Those meals are packed with non-biodegradable  Single-use plastics (SUPs) that make a significant contribution to the US plastic waste stream and the staggering global plastic pollution problem.  Most of those SUPs end up in a landfill or environment. 

Plastic Free Lunch Day provides students an opportunity to learn about plastic pollution and take meaningful plastic-reduction action.  One plastic free day leads to another and creates a vision and actionable ideas to move forward equitably and sustainably.



Start a #SkipTheStuff campaign
to reduce cafeteria single-use plastic every day!
Learn how students helped to get the NYC "SKip The Stuff" bill passed -> 

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Download the Skip The Stuff NYC Skull (no NYC) poster->
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Download the Skip The Stuff NYC Skull poster->
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Download the Skip The Stuff Incinerator poster->

Single-use Plastic​ Pollution Problem
​ 
in a snapshot

Why DO we need #plasticfreelunch?
The world is awash in toxic and polluting single-use plastics made from hazardous chemicals and climate-damaging fossil fuels. 
380 million metric tons of plastic are produced each year.

The US plastic recycling rate has dropped below 6%!

​
US Schools serve 7.35 billion meals annually.  Those meals are packed with non-biodegradable  Single-use plastics (SUPs) that make a significant contribution to the US plastic waste stream and the staggering global plastic pollution problem.  Most of those SUPs end up in a landfill or environment. 

Plastic Free Lunch Day provides students an opportunity to learn about plastic pollution and take meaningful plastic-reduction action.  One plastic free day leads to another and creates a vision and actionable ideas to move forward equitably and sustainably.
​​
1o reasons to take plastic free, climate action 
  • Making & disposing of plastic is fueling the climate crisis.
  • Plastics are made from fossil fuels.
  • Plastics are the 5th largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Less than 6% of plastic is recycled in the US.
  • Plastic kills 100,000 marine animals every year.
  • The US creates more plastic waste than any other nation.
  • Plastic never goes away.  It degrades into tiny microplastics.
  • Scientists have found microplastics in the deepest parts of the ocean, and in our soil, food, water and air.
  • Recent studies have also found microplastics in our bodies: our gut, our tissues, our poop, our blood, the deepest parts of our lungs!
  • We are all eating and breathing microplastics.
What is a Single-Use Plastic and Why is it a Problem?
Each year, we produce over 400 million metric tons of plastic; more than 40% of this is single-use plastic--plastic packaging and foodware that is used for less than 20 minutes.  Because plastic is not recyclable, most discarded plastic is sent to landfills or "leaks" into the natural environment. 

Plastic does not biodegrade. Instead it breaks or fragments into small particles called microplastics and then into smaller particles called nanoplastics.  Because plastic is made from fossil fuels and thousands of persistent toxic chemicals, they transfer thousands of migrating chemicals into our food during use. After disposal and fragmentation, plastic particles carry and distribute these toxic chemicals to every inch of the globe. 

​Scientists have found micro and nanoplastics in our digestive tract, deep in our lung tissue, in the placenta, and circulating in our blood. Nanoplastics deliver thousands of toxic chemicals directly to the organs, tissues, and cells in our bodies. We now face the public health crisis of our time. 

School cafeterias serve over 40 million meals a day and make a large contribution to the plastic waste stream.  School cafeterias are a great place to begin reducing single-use plastics, while also protecting the health of our students--society's most vulnerable members. Plastic free lunch day is a first step that results in useful photos and data but, most importantly, it shows everyone that food-dispensing and eating does not require plastic!
​
​
DONATE | ABOUT |MICROPLASTIC MADNESS|PLASTIC FREE LUNCH| Take Action Toolkits|EVENTS
Youth Advocates |Contact 
​
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Our VISION
We envision a plastic free, equitable zero waste future where landfill and incinerator garbage as we know it no longer exists;
where post consumption waste from food to packaging is drastically reduced
and what remains benefits our schools, communities, and the environment. 


Cafeteria Culture (CafCu) is a Project of The Fund for the City of New York, a 501(c)(3) organization.
As such, your donations to Cafeteria Culture
are eligible for charitable deductions under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Cafeteria Culture is a vendor of New York City Department of Education via Fund for the City of New York


Copyright © 2023 Cafeteria Culture
  • About
    • About
    • Team
    • Our Story
    • Reports
    • Press
    • Partners
    • Contact
  • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • Host a screening
    • The Plastic Pollution Crisis
    • Creative Team and Credits
    • Movie Feedback
  • Plastic Free Lunch
    • Plastic Free Lunch
    • FAQs - Plastic Free Lunch Day
    • PFLD School Food Service
    • Action Plan ideas - PFLD
    • NYC Plastic Free Lunch Days
  • Take Action Toolkits
    • K-12 Toolkit - Plastic Free Lunch Day
    • K-12 Toolkit - Microplastic Madness
    • DIY DATA ACTION litter cleanup >
      • DATA +ACTION litter clean up
      • Student and Teacher Litter Data Collection
    • SORT2SAVE KIT >
      • SORT2SAVE KIT - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Downloads - S2S - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Daily Operations - S2S - Cafeteria Rangers
      • Videos - Cafeteria Rangers
      • S2s Quick Launch Guide
      • Job Descriptions for Cafeteria Rangers
      • SORT2save Cheer! - lyrics + video
      • SORT2SAVE - About, Partners, License Agreement
    • Foam Trays Out of Schools >
      • NYC Foam Ban
      • Trayless Tuesdays
      • No-Styro Puppets
      • FAQs - Getting Styrofoam Out of Schools
    • Alternative Messaging
    • Action at home
    • Action on Policy >
      • Plastic Water Bottle ban NYC
      • NY Bag Bill
  • Donate
  • Youth Advocates Program
  • MORE RESOURCES
    • Resource Library
    • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Taiwan - Lessons Learned
  • Events
  • Latest - Cafeteria Culture blog
  • Volunteer