By Perrin Clark ’15 and Andrew Huang ’15, Staff Writers

For those who have seen almost untouched meals thrown out in the cafeteria, recyclable cups piling up in trash cans, and stacks of unused printouts lying around in the ILC and library, one thing is obvious: there is too much trash at Newark Academy.

Before one launches into a diatribe against excessive garbage at the Academy, however, it is important to consider the true scale of the problem and maintain a proper perspective. Mr. Erlandson of the Science Department, who teaches IB Environmental Studies, described the waste at the Academy as “very typical.” He continued, “it’s not much different from the waste you’d see at the average home, mall, or other place in New Jersey.” Mr. Brower, Head of Food Service, also agrees that waste isn’t a particularly large problem in the cafeteria. “After several menu cycles, we get a pretty good idea of what we need to use. We keep records of how much of each item we use and the kids get a pretty good idea of what they like and don’t like after a few cycles. We don’t waste a whole lot,” he said.

Systems to reduce waste are in place. For example, all of the leftover food in the cafeteria is put into a freezer and donated to a food shelter monthly. According to Mr. Brower, “a minimal amount of food is wasted that way.” Mr. Brower also cites the phasing out of disposable plates and silverware for the reusable ones currently in place. Mr. Erlandson agrees, stating, “The school had done a good job getting rid of disposable plates and dining ware.”

Despite the aforementioned steps taken to reduce waste, further action is practicable and should be pursued. The cafeteria and printing stations are two locations around the school at which Newark Academy students still produce more waste than they need to. According to Matt Tobin `13, the head of the Newark Academy Green Committee, “[the school] generates about 70 pounds of food waste a day.” Mr. Scott of the Technology Department is also troubled by the “excessive waste” that he sees involving the printers. “Kids sometimes print and then reprint when their papers don’t come out right away or the printers aren’t working. They don’t know what’s wrong, and keep on printing. The printers can back up for hours,” he said. When the problems are fixed and the printed pages finally do come, they often remain unused by students who simply needed to print something at the last minute for their next class. Notwithstanding the cost of ink and paper, Mr. Scott believes that a school priding itself on being eco-friendly shouldn’t be so wasteful. “You should practice what you preach,” he said.

At the printers in the library and ILC, paper and ink waste is also considerable and easily preventable. Mr. Scott explained, “Teachers should make a strong effort to have their class be a paperless class. There needs to be a focus on deciding what has to be printed out and what can be read on a computer. Maybe we need all the printers in the school to be double-sided, or have a card swiping system where kids pay to print.” The easiest way for the community to reduce garbage is to be conscientious about what we waste. If students were to treat printers like valuable resources rather than as the means to endless printouts, then we would be able to cut paper and ink waste tremendously.

The greatest source of waste in the cafeteria is the cups. “Use of cups is one of the main things that could get better” Mr. Brower admitted. Mr. Erlandson agreed, proposing the use of reusable cups. He also suggests that the school pursue a composting program. “We tend not to separate compostable stuff when we throw stuff out. It’d be great if we could separate out easily compostable stuff.” Matt Tobin hopes to install a composter at Newark Academy. “If we were to compost our waste, we might save money on disposal, we would definitely save money on soil for the gardens, and we would be able to grow more food for ourselves and rely less on food that is trucked in from God-knows-where.  Not only is this better for the environment, consuming food grown on campus is better than eating food that comes from farther away,” said Matt. “Regardless of whether or not we have a composter, we may soon start separating our food waste from other waste in the cafeteria to become more aware of the problem,” he said. This is a reasonable and achievable course of action that would certainly reduce the amount of food waste.

Reducing excessive waste at Newark Academy requires a change in policy and attitudes. Our school has made pledges towards environmental sensibility. The new wing, which made great use of recyclable material, embodies these promises. To continue the green evolution, the Academy should consider purchasing reusable cups for the cafeteria and placing limitations on student printing. As Mr. Scott says, we must ask ourselves, “What does it mean to be a green school?”