Correction: This story has been modified from its original version. — This article has been modified from its original version. One million Stryofoam containers were used by Owens Food Court and Hokie Grill combined. The Collegiate Times regrets this error.
At Virginia Tech, there is a call for more and more environmentally friendly practices and for more people to "go green." We are constantly challenged to transform all our economic investments from a negative standpoint of commoditization toward a positive one, toward the environmentally benign.
The Environmental Coalition of Virginia Tech is a core organization that unites, educates and motivates students, faculty and community members to advocate for a sustainable future. Aside from other goals, it seeks to reduce wasted food in dining halls and completely transition from Styrofoam to alternative biodegradable containers. The prescription is straightforward but challenging: make our dining halls more sustainable, both at the hands of the supplier and the consumer.
The Dining Services Group under the Environmental Coalition is showing maximum effort in order to keep our dining facilities more environmentally friendly. "As for what we, the Environmental Coalition, would like to see, no trays, no Styrofoam, and all food to be composted," said Kyle Knight, the Dining Services Facilitator within the Environmental Coalition.
Knight coordinates the Dining Services group and networks with other programs at Virginia Tech in order to make dining halls more environmentally friendly.
Polystyrene, better known as Styrofoam, can be seen all around campus, piled up outside West End or crumbled up in our trashcans. The fact of the matter is Styrofoam is taking a hard toll on our environment, energy and health. It is not easily recyclable because of its light weight and low scrap value.
Styrofoam undergoes manufacturing processes that release hydrocarbons at the ground level. These harmful air pollutants lead to reduced lung function, chest pains, coughing and wheezing. In the United States, the EPA estimates more than 73 billion Styrofoam and plastic cups are thrown away each year, piling up in landfills and polluting the atmosphere.
"Our main focus was to eliminate, reduce or create an alternative to Styrofoam boxes at the dining halls." Knight said. "We would have weekly meetings during Environmental Coalition meetings to share what we had found, ideas, current projects and respond to write to others we were working with at Virginia Tech."
The Environmental Coalition took several steps within this past year pertaining to that focus.
"We did two main projects during the year," Knight said. "First, we created an online survey and posted table cards at Owens, West End and Shultz that direct students to access more information on Styrofoam."
The table cards make available information of Styrofoam use. Toxic chemicals leach out carcinogens from Styrofoam containers into food, especially when subjected to microwaves.
These chemicals threaten human health and reproductive systems.
They also address the benefits of substitutes: "using one ton of recycled paper containers instead of polystyrene saves 390 gallons of oil, enough to drive a midsize SUV almost 8,000 miles."
A survey, which can be taken at www.theecvt.com/survey, addresses the possibility of charging students between 5 cents and 15 cents extra for biodegradable containers in place of Styrofoam. The survey also asks whether students would like to do away completely with Styrofoam and compost leftover meals instead of throwing them out.
Based on the survey, 59 percent were willing to pay up to 15 cents for biodegradable containers, and 78 percent were willing to pay 5 cents.
"For the sake of accuracy, only 116 people have been surveyed, but the survey is open," Knight said.
Andy Sariahani, an intern from Arkansas, worked with the Environmental Coalition to find out how much waste was used at the dining halls and to determine possible options. The amount of waste that results from student food consumption is staggering. The Environmental Coalition is pushing for the absence of trays, which in turn would prevent such an overwhelming quantity of food wasted.
The Environmental Coalition states that Owens Food Court and Hokie Grill used more than a million Styrofoam containers just last year, costing Tech almost $50,000. But the road doesn't end there. D2, over a two-day period, threw away more than a ton of edible food. From a recent food waste survey conducted at D2, an estimated 200,000 lbs of food is wasted every year -- about the size of 10 school buses.
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"I would suggest posting a sign at the beginning of the line stating that to-go boxes do not get more food," If they were to post this sign, that would not change the fact that there IS more food in a to-go container. If they want to prove it wrong, just do a blind study and weigh the amount of food on the different types of containers. I can guarantee you that most if not all of the outlets in west end will prove this assumption.
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I use to-go boxes because you DO get more food, and they are easier to eat out of. The plates provided in dining halls like owens and west end are also quite small and flat, which usually makes it hard to keep food on your plate. Get some better plates and stop whining. Until then, I will continue to use styrofoam containers and hurt the environment. Boo hoo.
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When my husband and I eat out, we usually take a container with us for left overs. Most restaurants do not mind. In fact, we've gotten into alot of great conversations out of it, and one restaurant switched to more environmental friendly containers because of it. If I forget my container, I usually ask for alluminum foil, since it's recyclable.
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