In an effort to keep up with the school’s plan of becoming more environmentally friendly, the Niles North cafeteria is taking the green initiative of replacing the paper and plastic plates and utensils with reusable dishes and silverware.

In October of 2012, a dishwasher was put into place in the cafeteria’s kitchen for washing the pots and pans used in cooking. However, starting on Monday, Feb. 25, the dishwasher will gain another purpose.

With the reusable trays and silverware in place, the cafeteria is also slightly changing the waste separation system. The three bins that exist now – recyclable materials, non-recyclable materials, and compostable materials – will still be used, but they won’t be blue. Instead, they’ll be clear so that students can see which kinds of trash go in which bins. There will also be a spot for students to place their trays and silverware when they’re finished with it for it to be taken off to the dishwasher.

The trays will be small enough to fit two of them in one dishwasher rack. This way, the load required is reduced in half and so is the water usage. Also, now that the food the cafeteria serves is more preferable, less processed, and organic, it’s important that the rest of the cafeteria follows suit. “Once you change the food, change the way you eat it,” Michael Borraccio, head of the new initiative, said.

With all this in mind, Niles North’s cafeteria is keeping up their goal of being more sustainable, environmentally friendly, and decreasing the amount of waste wrongfully put into landfills.