sugarcane trays in schools

[Coquille Houshour and Micki Josi]

Hello,

Micki and I are organizing to green NYC schools. We're exciting about
a lot of changes that have occurred since we helped bring about a
hearing at City Hall last June. The DOE has formed a Sustainability
Committee and now, surprisingly, started an open blog:
http://nycschools.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/sugar-cane-cafeteria-trays/,

One of the main issues being debated right now is the move to sugar-
cane-trays. Right now, NYC schools dispose around 850,000 foam trays a
day and we want a change NOW--a lot of people do.

Finally, the Dept. of Education is offering an alternative City-wide.
Just this week, they are saying that principals can opt for sugar cane
trays for an additional three cents per tray, which can be very
expensive when averaged out.

They're touting this as an eco-friendly alternative because they break
down in landfills. The problem is, in our compost class we learned
that even a carrot can still be intact 30 years down the road because
of landfill conditions.

How can we respond intelligently to this issue? Yes, it must be better
than foam, but what are the issues around cane trays and their
biodegradability? Also, what about resusable trays?

I'm getting increasingly frustrated with the new non-plastic cups that
some cafes (like BBG) serve their drinks in now. People feel good
about them and don't worry as much about throwing them away (a friend
of mine dropped hers off with her compost at Union Sq. and the LESEC
didn't know whether or not they should accept it)...What's happening
with those cups in our urban composting scene (is Habana Outpost
really getting theirs picked up by a professional composting service
and, if so, who?)

Thanks,
Coquille