ReThink Disposable: Arlington Public Schools

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.