Bellevue East student urges district to ditch styrofoam trays, pursue composting and create a sustainability coordinator
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Summary
A Bellevue East High School student urged the board to replace styrofoam lunch trays and expand district-level sustainability efforts; the student said compostable trays would cost about $9,600 to implement at the high-school level and cited student-led recycling efforts.
Victoria Bogaz, a junior at Bellevue East High School, addressed the board during public comment and urged the district to expand sustainability efforts, most immediately by replacing styrofoam lunch trays and extending composting and recycling programs.
Bogaz told the board the district uses “over 1,000,000 of these trays per year” and said styrofoam trays “have a terrible impact from beginning to end,” citing manufacturing emissions and long decomposition times in landfills. She proposed either reusable trays (referencing Lincoln Public Schools) or compostable trays (as used in Omaha Public Schools) and said she had consulted the district’s food-service director about costs.
“Moving the compostable trays at the high school level would cost the district around $9,600 more than the styrofoam that we currently use,” Bogaz said, adding that she had spoken with the district director of food services (identified in the transcript as “Ms. Hanson”). Bogaz said the $9,600 estimate covered both high schools.
Bogaz asked the board to consider grant funding from private foundations and federal opportunities and proposed creating a district sustainability coordinator to manage composting, pursue alternatives to styrofoam and expand districtwide programs beyond student-led initiatives.
Board members thanked Bogaz for her research and passion; no board action was taken during public comment.