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Bedford Public Schools, Bedford, MA
Bedford Public Schools, located in Bedford, Massachusetts, serve approximately 2,500 students across four schools: Lt. Eleazer Davis Elementary (PK–2), Lt. Job Lane Elementary (3–5), John Glenn Middle School (6–8), and Bedford High School (9–12). Approximately 1,400 lunches are served daily across the district.
Thanks to a generous donation from PlasticFreeRestaurants.org, the schools’ polystyrene (foam) lunch trays were traded for Ahimsa stainless steel reusable trays in December 2024. This was the final phase of a district-wide cafeteria waste reduction program; since 2023, the district has implemented a food share table, and separating recycling, food scraps, and liquids from true trash.
Read The Full Case Study Here (PDF)
ReThink Disposable is a program of Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund conducted in partnership with local organizations, businesses, and government agencies. Generous support is provided by a changing list of public and private funders. To learn more about the program, its partners, and funders, visit: www.rethinkdisposable.org.
Packaging practices prior to ReThink Disposable:
Single-use expanded polystyrene 5-compartment tray
Recommendations Implemented:
Durable stainless-steel 5-compartment tray
Before & After
Document
MA-Bedford-ReThink-Case-Study.pdf
(981.12 KB)
Business Information:
97 McMahon Rd
Bedford, MA 01730
United States
The Bottom Line
$11,777.40
annual net cost savings
261,720
disposable items reduced per year
5,796 lbs.
annual waste reduction
In the Lane school, we have gone from 18 bags of trash a lunch day down to 6. The reusable trays have vastly reduced the amount of garbage thrown out and have actually streamlined the whole lunchtime custodial operation.
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.
Maria Jensen
Maria Jensen started her career in Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) in the electronic waste recycling industry, after receiving a Masters in Global Health from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and publishing research related to mercury contamination from electronic waste in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Tonyehn Verkitus
Scranton, PA
Tonyehn Verkitus is the Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, the Northeast Counties Medical Societies and host of Keystone Edition Health on WVIA TV. Her work in the nonprofit world has mostly centered on health and food though she also spent many years training organizations and communities on fundraising and telling their mission-based stories.
In 2007, Tonyehn along with other family members and friends, started Africa Community Exchange, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support an effective model of education for youth and
Randy Walsh
Pittsburgh, PA
Randall's connection to Clean Water Action began in Pittsburgh, PA in 1985 when he participated in the field canvass for the Pennsylvania Alliance for Jobs and Energy, a partner organization with Clean Water Action. He rose through the ranks, opening and running Clean Water Action’s Pittsburgh phone canvass, and then transitioned into a program role. As a Clean Water Action organizer, he led the coalition for Pittsburgh’s Earth Day 1990 event, attracting an estimated 70,000 attendees. Randall then moved to New Hampshire to establish a Clean Water Action office, focusing on