The Arlington Public Schools, located in Arlington, Massachusetts, enrolls 6,019 K-12 students. In 2022, a high-school student group, SIash the Trash, began advocating for reusable foodware in the high school. Due to logistical limitations in the high school, the food services identified Arlington’s smaller sixth-grade school as a feasible location for a pilot. In the fall of 2022, the sixth-grade Gibbs School became the first school in the district to transition from single-use plastic to reusable stainless-steel cutlery. Dallin Elementary School followed in 2024 due to the successful advocacy of 4th-grade Climate Club students. In the spring of 2026, with support from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Reduce, Reuse, Repair Micro-Grant, Gibbs School became the first in the district to transition from compostable to stainless-steel Ahimsa trays. Peirce and Stratton Elementary Schools used the grant funds to transition to reusable cutlery. To further reduce single-use cafeteria items, these schools are in the process of switching from single-use condiment packets to bulk condiment dispensers. Each of the 4 schools enrolls between 325
and 500 students with dishwashing infrastructure already in place.
Business Profile:
Arlington Public Schools (Gibbs, Dallin, Peirce, Stratton) is located in Arlington, MA. They have on-site dining, no take-out, uses commercial dishwaters and has 3-4 kitchen staff per cafeteria with 1-2 waste monitors daily by staff and students.
Packaging practices prior to ReThink Disposable:
- Single-use BPI-certified 5-compartment compostable tray
- Single-use plastic fork
- Single-use plastic spoon
- Single-use plastic knife
- Single-use ketchup packets
Recommendations Implemented:
- Stainless-steel 5-compartment Ahimsa tray
- Stainless-steel fork
- Stainless-steel spoon
- Stainless-steel knife
- Bulk ketchup dispensers
Arlington, MA
United States
The Bottom Line
- $12,929 total annual net cost savings
- 315,436 disposable items reduced per year
- 3.6 tons (over 7,000 lbs) of annual waste reduction
- $2,500 savings at Gibbs Elementary in compost-hauling savings
- 7.4-month payback period on reusable foodware and bulk condiment purchases
$12,929
315,436
3.6 tons (over 7,000 lbs)
I was initially anxious to implement the change, but once again, the students have shown me that change is often harder for adults than the students! The transition has been very smooth, and we have received a great deal of positive feedback.
Reducing Single-Use Food Packaging
ReThink Disposable works with local governments, businesses and institutions, and consumers of single use food packaging to inspire a cultural shift away from single-use "throwaway" lifestyle.