The Problem
Many schools all across the nation as well as globally are spending more than a quarter of their total budget on utilities such as styrofoam trays. These trays are expensive for schools without proper funding and are not biodegradable which makes them a contributing cause to earth's pollution crisis. Styrofoam trays are known to create tons of water pollution, about 15 pounds per square inch. Yet still, schools and corporations insist on using them. Research indicates that schools tend to refrain from reusable plastic trays due to the washing aspect that is involved. Water is being wasted when it can be reused in an appropriate manner by schools and institutions. Wasting water is contributing to the amount of earth's accessible and clean water. These are a series of problems with different effects in our community that lead us to designing the Gray Tray.
The Solution
By investing in reusable plastic trays, schools all across the globe can save budget money in an efficient manner and can decrease the amount of money that they use in the long run. Our product utilizes plastic trays, which would be washed and reused. It also recycles the dirty water or grey water, which would also be reused for multiple, different areas. The Gray Tray is a mechanism which will reduce the amount of water pollution and limit the amount of freshwater used when not necessary. The plastic trays would be placed onto a conveyor belt and the mechanism would wash the trays with water and vegan friendly dish soap. This dish soap would also be approved by the local health department. When washed, the major food particles and contaminants would be strained out by a mesh strainer. While the trays are being washed, the dirty water or greywater will collect directly underneath the mechanism in a large container. The container contents would then be separated once more into another container, which has a fine, foam filter sheet that separates the oil and grease from the water. This water would then be manually moved to our school’s greenhouse, outside garden, and hydroponic towers. It also has the potential to be used in other facilities such as restrooms and locker rooms. The Gray Tray can be used in any industry, corporation, facility, school, university, hospital, or warehouse. We are becoming more profitable, conserving earth's resources and creating larger budgets as well as greener schools in the process.
