Melrose Rotary Club adopts reusables

The Change is Projected to Prevent Thousands of Pounds of Waste

The Melrose Rotary Club, a group of over 60 local business leaders, gathers weekly and had been using disposable paper plates, plastic utensils, and plastic table coverings for their lunch until last autumn when the Club adopted the use of reusable tableware and tablecloths. The switch is anticipated to prevent an estimated 2,500 pounds of waste in 2022 alone.

Zero Waste Melrose spoke with Melrose Rotary Club, Vice President, Maia Aparo Moran about the Club’s adoption of reusables.

What motivated the change?

“There was no single aha moment,” Maia noted. “Rather it was more a growing feeling among Club members that we’re throwing out too much. We’re generating too much trash.”

The Club meets weekly for a lunch and generally 25-35 members participate, meaning six to seven tables are set with full settings – plates, tea/coffee cups, drinking glasses, and utensils. After the meal all plastic tablecloths and all place settings would be tossed into a commercial-sized trash bin, perhaps 60+ gallons worth of trash each week.

Maia continued, well in keeping with the Rotary’s theme of making a difference, “We could do something. We could make a change.”

What was your process for making the switch?

“It’s very doable,” Maia was quick to say. She continued, “It didn’t take long to decide [to adopt reusables]. As soon as the topic was brought up, everyone chimed in with agreement. What took time was the leg work to set it up.”  

Maia chuckled as she relayed the process to make the switchover. She said, in the true spirit of reuse, “I went to thrift stores looking for 50-60 place settings.” Preferably, she wanted clear glass plates, owing to their ideal weight and ease of storage, but not finding what she needed, Maia moved the search online. The Club has “started with thin plastic plates” due to cost and availability. It was a balancing act of making the switch and stopping the waste with waiting to source the ideal plate and the cost.

“Silverware was interesting,” Maia went on, with continued humor. She extracted utensils from bins “three for a dollar” for a designer-esque collection of flatware that are “all mismatched.”

The plastic tablecloths have all been replaced by cloth tablecloths that a Club member got and are taken home after each lunch by member, washed, and brought to the next week’s meeting.

What went smoothly?

Maia shared several lucky circumstances that aided in the Club’s smooth switchover. The Club’s meetings are held at Memorial Hall and the Club has the support of the Memorial Hall building staff to use their dishwasher, so the plates and utensils can be washed quickly and in hot water on-site. The Club also has access to a closet at Memorial Hall, so all the settings, cups, mugs, and utensils are “washed, dried, sorted, and stored until the next week in four milkcrates.” 

In another nod to reuse, Maia said, “I had a ton of dishtowels saved over the years. We use these at our meetings [to dry everything].”

Were there any bumps in the transition?

Maia shared, “The commercial dishwasher was a learning curve. The plates are great, but fly around the machine, because it’s commercial [power grade].” While this is a workable hurdle, she noted they are “starting a search for more sturdy settings.” She feels, “The biggest bump was trying to be cost effective and not losing on quality.” 

What advice would you give other organization and groups based on the Rotary's experience?

An emphatic, enthusiastic “DO IT,” says Maia, adding, “You CAN do it on a budget.”

As for specifics she advised that, “The tricky part is that you have to have a home base for storage. If you must truck it in and out, it might be more difficult.” 

What was the initial investment to set-up and projected time to recoup the cost?   

For an investment of $500-600, the Club successfully made the switch to reusables.

Prior to this the Club’s caterer would provide all the disposal settings and table coverings. When the Club adopted reusables, the caterer was able to offer better pricing, allowing the Club to recoup the cost within a single year.

What is the projected the long-term savings?

Maia was clear, “There is more than monetary here.” The long-term monetary savings for the Club could be $1300 to $1500 per year. The long-term gain for the environment is, as the saying goes, priceless.

Zero Waste Melrose works to reduce waste in Melrose through initiatives that promote the 5 Rs (refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle).

Melrose Rotary Club, part of Rotary International, is a group of business and local leaders committed to applying their expertise to better the community by creating opportunities and connecting with others. Learn more at http://www.melroserotary.org.