can there be hope yet?

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TREMPEALEAU, Wisconsin (AP) -- Fifth-graders here took metal silverware in hand

and marched into the school cafeteria to protest the school district's

money-saving switch to plastic utensils.

Three weeks later, the students claimed victory when their campaign caused the

Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau school board to reverse its decision, agreeing with

protesters that the metal utensils were more environmentally friendly.

The district had said it would save an estimated $4,500 a year by changing to

plastic.

But the fifth-graders at Trempealeau Elementary School lobbied their peers,

parents and teachers throughout the district to strike down the policy, and the

school board reversed its decision December 9.

Fifth-graders Haley Allen and Courtney Kriesel said disposable plastic flies in

the face of their education.

The students learned plastic tableware often ends up in landfills or

incinerators rather than recycling plants.

" It's bad for the Earth, " Allen said.