Students and faculty recycle trays in the lunchroom every day as the Environmental Club works to reduce Algonquin’s environmental footprint.
The Environmental Club is working together with local company ReFoamIt to recycle Styrofoam lunch trays. The club hopes to improve the school and send a positive message to students.
“We’re trying to make a statement that we care about what goes into our trash,” club advisor and nutrition teacher Susan Halpin said.
On Feb. 24 the project began, with students setting up booths around the cafeteria to collect trays, clean them, and pack them to be shipped away to ReFoamIt facilities in Leominster.
“You know, we go through 625 trays a day here.  If you think about that over a week, then multiply it by forty weeks of school; it’s a ton of extra material going into the trash,” Halpin said.
The recycling program has recycled around 100 trays per day in its first few weeks.
“It doesn’t matter what’s on the trays – if you give them to us we’ll clean them and store them,” junior Jillian Rizzitano, the club president, said.
The recycling stations also offer an opportunity to show students how they can improve the world.  A fifth period business class pitched in one day, helping clean trays while simultaneously learning about ethics in the business world.
How can students help out?  The environmental club is always looking for new members and volunteers.
“Manpower is our issue… Even though we only have around ten members, our club does a lot.  Honestly, if we had even more people, just think of what we could do.” Halpin said.
Students have had an enthusiastic reaction to the project, with many choosing to give their trays to the recycling stations instead of throwing them away.
As senior Max Teplansky put it, “Recycling lunch trays is preparing our kids for the future, and preparing the future for our kids.”