Title
To recognize and designate November 8, 2023 as Plastic Free Lunch Day in Columbus, Ohio.
Body
WHEREAS, the “Plastic Free Lunch Day” initiative, led by the Urban School Food Alliance (USFA), is a nationwide initiative to reduce plastic foodware and packaging in school cafeterias across the country; and
WHEREAS, nationwide schools serve 7.35 billion meals annually, often with 7 to 10 single-use plastics in a single meal. Most plastic from school lunches ends up in the environment or the landfill as less than 9% of plastic is recycled; and
WHEREAS, if every school in the US reduces just two pieces of plastic per school lunch each day we can eliminate 10 billion pieces of plastic per school year; and
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus puts an emphasis on waste reduction and recycling through programs like Columbus GreenSpot and the Columbus Climate Action Plan; and
WHEREAS, Columbus City Council encourages our schools, businesses, workforce, families, and residents to go plastic-free for lunch on Wednesday, November 8th, 2023, and to reduce and reuse plastics as often as possible; therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS: That this Council does hereby recognize Wednesday, November 8, 2023 as Plastic Free Lunch Day and encourages all Columbus area schools, businesses, and families to take part in this important movement.