Los Angeles Unified School District Bans Styrofoam

The largest school district in California and the second largest in the nation, LAUSD, delivered a memorable civics lesson to the children of Thomas Starr King Middle School by granting the students' public request for a ban on food trays made of polystyrene (aka Styrofoam). The students took action and requested a ban on polystyrene food trays after they learned during a class trip to a Los Angeles recycling center that polystyrene contaminated with food does not get recycled; instead it goes straight to the dump. The district uses about 40 million trays a year. The new paper tray is about 3 to 4 cents cheaper per unit and saves the district about $5 million to $6 million.

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