Three years ago, the second-grade teaching team at Argonaut expressed interest in switching from Styrofoam lunch containers in an effort to reduce waste and promote recycling. The plan was to ditch Styrofoam and move to a system using an industrial dishwasher and plastic trays.

"It was a groundswell from our units in ecology and recycling," says Pam Sanderson, who has been a second-grade teacher at Argonaut for the past 13 years and headed up the dishwasher project. Sanderson says the school used trays until 12 years ago and then changed to Styrofoam based on the promise of convenience and container recycling.

"When we knew the containers were being recycled, we didn't feel so bad," Sanderson says. "But then we realized they were just getting dumped, so we had to do something."

The recycling of Styrofoam containers began to taper off several years ago. This is most likely due to the fact, as stated by the Polystyrene Packaging Council, that "food service poly packaging is generally not recycled because it is not economically sustainable." Thus local plants closed and the waste management company used by the school could no longer send Styrofoam away for recycling.

After securing the interest of the second-grade classes, Sanderson set out to visit several Bay Area schools that had the tray system in place. She found them to be quite successful and soon plans for the dishwasher were established.

The only setback came when they had to choose a smaller dishwasher than originally intended, due to venting concerns raised by the architect overseeing the cafeteria remodeling. A smaller, $6,000 version was consequently selected and fundraising ensued.

"The whole school supported this," says Principal Sue Brooks. "The second-grade teachers really took it on as a campaign."

Money was raised by walk-a-thons and annual auctions put on by the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), which raised the main portion of the money needed.

"We thought it was absolutely wonderful that the children had the foresight to come up with an idea that was so ecologically involved," says Tina Johnson, president of the Argonaut PTA. "We fully supported it."

Money was additionally generated by second-grade lemonade sales that had been done seasonally for the past five years. Previously the money raised was given entirely to the Rainforest Action Network. However, for two years the money was divided between the rainforest and the dishwasher fund.

Sanderson says the young students were very active in the pursuit of the dishwasher, selecting recycling awareness as a theme for their school spirit day and making a presentation to the board to initially get the project under way.

"It was just fantastic," Sanderson says. "The kids were very jazzed about it."

Since the use of the dishwasher, Brooks says, the school has reduced its waste from six garbage cans per day to two and from two dumpsters to one each week.

The only challenge still ahead is to find staff to oversee the dishwasher. Parent volunteers are presently helping out with the loading and unloading, but it is likely they will need staff because the children cannot empty the trays due to high-temperature steam.

Johnson said the PTA is not allowed to provide funding for staff, so the school is in conversations with the district about the matter.

As the only school in Santa Clara County to have a dishwasher program and one of only a handful in the Bay Area, second-grade class members are proud of their efforts and are still very involved, says Sanderson.

"I would really like to see the idea grow into other schools," Sanderson says. "It is fascinating to know that people are still using and dumping millions of Styrofoam trays when they don't have to be."