Harrison County School District using new trays to supplement disposable packaging

The Harrison County School District’s Child Nutrition Department is making lunch eco-friendly.

Reusable lunch trays are now being used in all Harrison County School District cafeterias. The change will drastically cut back the usage of polystyrene disposable packaging.

More than 30,000 units per day of polystyrene was being deposited into school dumpsters prior to the decision to take the eco-friendly route. Child Nutrition Program Director Brad Barlow said, “We knew that this was important and there was a problem because of the polystyrene shortage that affected us during COVID. We were unable to get all of the to-go packaging that we really needed. So, we started buying up hard trays out of necessity, but now we see that there is a great environmental impact as a result.”

The reusable hard trays can be washed and sanitized daily and even feature custom school colors.