Jersey student instigates switch from polystyrene

Oct. 15—Verona (N.J.) seventh grade middle school student Lucas Konrad-Parisi first noted the piles of polystyrene foam plates in the H.B. Whitehorne Middle School cafeteria when he entered the school in fifth grade. Now, with help from the Verona Environmental Commission (VEC), Konrad-Parisi convinced the local school board to rid its cafeterias of polystyrene foam.

By the time Lucas hit sixth grade, the VEC had formed an online petition against the school board's use of Styrofoam and the concerned student presented that petition at a school board meeting in June.

Come the first day of school this academic year, paper trays and plates are now being used, even though they are twice the cost.