Robin O'Neil, Michael Lister, Gretchen Clark, and Cindy Seybold

Carlton School is one of fourteen "Green Schools" in Salem. Approximately 150 K-5 students are provided with two meals a day. Eating utensils and cutlery are non-recyclable. O'Neil, along with two parents and a teacher, developed the "Recycle, Renew, and Reuse" program to encourage students to use recyclable products, take better care of their communities and exercise life-long stewardship. More than 55,000 Styrofoam plates are used in the cafeteria during one school year. Through this innovative program, they will be replaced with disposable bagasse plates and bowls which are not made from trees and look like regular paper plates. Metal utensils will also be purchased, washed and reused. This will replace disposable plastic bags filled with sporks, straws and napkins. Biodegradable products will be adopted in the cafeteria and the recycling process will be enforced from the beginning. Students will separate products in the recycling bins at school and take a field trip to a local recycling center to view the final steps of the recycling process. O'Neil also hopes to implement a program that will teach other schools to become environmentally friendly.