Making the Switch from Plastic

The sound of a thousand plastic sporks clattering onto the linoleum floor of Kellogg Elementary’s cafeteria on Thursday morning signaled the beginning of a new era of sustainability for the school.

Beginning on Monday, April 22 — Earth Day — Kellogg became the first school in the Goleta Union School District (GUSD) and one of the first in the state to replace single-use plastic utensils with reusable metal sporks for its students. To commemorate the launch of the sustainable utensil initiative, Kellogg’s Ocean Guardians, the Community Environmental Council, and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper hosted a rally last week for students.

Featuring a presentation by Kathi King of the Community Environmental Council and Penny Owens of Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, the rally highlighted the importance of recycling, the dangers of plastic, and the power of student voices.

“I just want to remind you that in our everyday actions, we can all be part of the solution,” Owens told the group of 1st- through 5th-graders. “Whether it’s a cleanup at your school, a behavior change at your school, or a community beach cleanup.”

The rally culminated in a ceremonial dumping of one week’s worth of plastic sporks and a skit performed by 2nd- and 5th-graders to demonstrate how to bus the new metal utensils after lunch.

The students had set aside their plastic sporks throughout the week prior in preparation for the switch to metal. More than 1,000 plastic sporks were collected and dumped, meant to illustrate to students the immense amount of plastic used in everyday life. The school says that it will divert an estimated 54,000 plastic sporks from the landfill annually.

The initiative began earlier this year under the organization of Kellogg’s chapter of the Ocean Guardian Club, a nationally recognized kids club funded by a NOAA grant. The club, which is composed of more than 50 student volunteers of all grade levels, works alongside parents and faculty on a schoolwide sustainability initiative project each year.

Now in its sixth year, the Ocean Guardian Club was set on making a switch to reusable utensils for some time. Valerie Voorhees, owner of Mission Refill in Goleta and Sustainability Chair at Kellogg’s PTA, oversaw parts of the switch and recalls discussing the project last year, aware of the need for plastic reduction in schools. “There’s the plastic ban in Goleta, but it doesn’t extend to schools, and I don’t feel like that made a lot of sense to us, because schools produce an immense amount of waste,” she said.

After gaining permission from the district to pilot the program this year, faculty and parents have been preparing students with interactive videos and lessons.

Ocean Guardian leaders Erika Dollett and Alex Pratt have been teaching lessons on the switch alongside Owens, in hopes of easing the transition and ensuring initiative success. “What’s really exciting is that if they can show this works and it’s easy to implement and train the students, it can go district-wide and have an even bigger impact,” said Owens.

While Kellogg is the first of GUSD, the Ocean Guardians hope it won’t be the last. The Kellogg Sustainability Committee is set to host an information session on transitioning schools to reusables for any interested faculty or parents in the district on Tuesday, June 4, 6-7:30 p.m., at Mission Refill (5733 Calle Real). RSVP for the session at missionrefill.com.