2008 Woodie Awards
University wasteland: the Styrofoam controversy
Ashley Hartman
Issue date: 2/14/07 Section: Forum
The Mount uses 3,500 Styrofoam containers each day, according to Dining Services. This amounts to over 493,500 used since the school year began. It takes millions of years for these containers to biodegrade, so using them unnecessarily is environmentally irresponsible.
The problem at the Mount is not those students who use the containers when they need to get their meals to-go; the problem is that too many students sit in the cafeteria and eat out of these containers, creating needless waste. If you are going to stay in the cafeteria, pick up a tray!
Bryn Mawr College, which is located in Pennsylvania and is comparable in size to the Mount (1,300 undergraduates), is also concerned with its use of styrofoam containers. Bryn Mawr calculated that it has used 94,850 styrofoam items (including cups and to-go containers) in the past four months, while the Mount has used more than four times that many in roughly the same amount of time! (http://www. biconews.com/article/view/4475)
Companies hail styrofoam, made from polystyrene, as a cheap, strong packing product, but these properties are exactly what make it so slow to biodegrade and impossible to recycle. It is also made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource, so consider the rising price of gas, which also comes from petroleum, when you are eating out of a styrofoam container (http://www.biconews.com/article/view/4475).
The best solution to the Mount's styrofoam problem
would likely be for Dining Services to switch to completely biodegradable to-go containers and have the small additional cost of these environmentally responsible products be passed on to the patrons. According to Dining Services, this cost would be about $0.25 per container.
To increase awareness of the Mount's wasteful practice of styrofoam to-go container abuse, the Environmental Club, University Recycling Committee, and the Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Committee are sponsoring "Foamless Friday" this Friday, Feb. 16. On this day only, styrofoam containers will not be available in Patriot Hall.
If you do not want to leave behind a legacy of styrofoam containers for millions of years, then do your part and only use to-go containers if you are eating outside of Patriot Hall. If you support moving away from styrofoam, contact your SGA representative or email sga@msmary.edu.
The problem at the Mount is not those students who use the containers when they need to get their meals to-go; the problem is that too many students sit in the cafeteria and eat out of these containers, creating needless waste. If you are going to stay in the cafeteria, pick up a tray!
Bryn Mawr College, which is located in Pennsylvania and is comparable in size to the Mount (1,300 undergraduates), is also concerned with its use of styrofoam containers. Bryn Mawr calculated that it has used 94,850 styrofoam items (including cups and to-go containers) in the past four months, while the Mount has used more than four times that many in roughly the same amount of time! (http://www. biconews.com/article/view/4475)
Companies hail styrofoam, made from polystyrene, as a cheap, strong packing product, but these properties are exactly what make it so slow to biodegrade and impossible to recycle. It is also made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource, so consider the rising price of gas, which also comes from petroleum, when you are eating out of a styrofoam container (http://www.biconews.com/article/view/4475).
The best solution to the Mount's styrofoam problem
would likely be for Dining Services to switch to completely biodegradable to-go containers and have the small additional cost of these environmentally responsible products be passed on to the patrons. According to Dining Services, this cost would be about $0.25 per container.
To increase awareness of the Mount's wasteful practice of styrofoam to-go container abuse, the Environmental Club, University Recycling Committee, and the Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Committee are sponsoring "Foamless Friday" this Friday, Feb. 16. On this day only, styrofoam containers will not be available in Patriot Hall.
If you do not want to leave behind a legacy of styrofoam containers for millions of years, then do your part and only use to-go containers if you are eating outside of Patriot Hall. If you support moving away from styrofoam, contact your SGA representative or email sga@msmary.edu.
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