Collegiate Times

An owl made mostly from Stryofoam to-go containers discarded in Owens Dining Hall.

It’s a guilty habit many of us share: Once we’ve claimed a table at a dining hall, we order our food and go back to the table to eat it — out of a Styrofoam to-go box.

The question is why so many diners eat out of to-go containers when they know they aren’t actually going anywhere. Perhaps dealing with trays and dishes is sometimes irritating or maybe it seems like meals in to-go containers have bigger portions. 

Whatever the reason, every time someone uses a to-go box, whether it is really to-go or not, it ends up in a pile of waste, unable to be recycled.

But Dan Arr, food production supervisor at Owens Dining Center, is doing something about it.

For the past two-and-a-half years or so, Arr has been salvaging much of the Styrofoam waste Owens generates, mostly in the form of to-go containers, to create artwork from the material.

Arr is a Virginia Tech alumnus who received his undergraduate education in English and philosophy. Having a strong affection for Blacksburg, he never left and has worked at Owens for five years.

According to Arr, although Tech has a recycling system for mixed paper, glass, plastic and bimetal, it does not provide the same for Styrofoam.

“Styrofoam is basically recyclable, but there’s one place in the country that takes that, and it’s way too far away to be practical,” Arr said.

Although Tech is a sustainable campus, as seen with implementations such as Owens’ Farms and the Farms and Fields Project, which serves local and organic foods and does not provide meals in to go containers, Arr wishes the need for to-go boxes could be cut down so there wouldn’t be such an influx of Styrofoam waste.

“What I want is to create a sustainable student body,” Arr said. “I want people to realize that taking a to-go box and then eating in the establishment is not only ridiculous, (but) just not good for the environment.”

 In the past, there has been talk of charging a little extra for a to-go meal.

“I’m sure there would be public outcry if that happened. Besides it would have to be significant enough to make people realize they shouldn’t do it,” Arr said, referring to a price increase for to go boxes.

Walking around Owens at a peak lunch hour, Arr pointed out dozens of patrons dining in but eating out of the Styrofoam containers. The conveyor belt for trash and dishes was littered with white boxes, most covered in food grime or torn apart, and there were even a few with forks jammed through the tops.

The trash dumpster out back had been full since the night before, but at least 40 new bags from breakfast and lunch lined the surrounding loading dock. Prodding the contents of the bags, it was evident most of the trash inside the bags was Styrofoam. The amount of waste generated by 1:30 p.m. on any given day is significant.

Rachael Budowle, sustainability coordinator for dining services, is aware of the problem.

“We recognize that there is a great amount of Styrofoam waste generated, and it’s certainly something we are in an on-going process of trying to reduce or recycle,” Budowle said. “We are currently investigating both compostable and reusable to-go container alternatives. However, as with all of our sustainability initiatives, we want to make sure we do things the right and most sustainable way, instead of going for a quick fix.”

Budowle said if there were a transition to a compostable container, dining services would have to ensure the Styrofoam was actually composted and not left to collect in a landfill where it could contribute to climate change.

“We are also in the process of researching the best practices for a pilot reusable container program,” Budowle said.

Until a solution can be reached, Arr will continue using the Styrofoam for his art. His projects started on a small scale, when he started gathering small pieces of garbage off the streets.

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A version of this article appeared in the Dec 3 issue of the Collegiate Times.