This week in the SGA Senate R-15-16, a resolution to discourage the use of Styrofoam, did not pass. Styrofoam, a material made from Styrene, is one of the most harmful materials for the environment as well as for human health. The process of manufacturing Styrofoam is the fifth-largest creator of hazardous waste, and that is before it ends up in a landfill.
Various groups across our campus utilize Styrofoam. This includes Bama Dining, the entity responsible for managing the various dining halls and restaurants on campus. Bama Dining has taken measures to reduce the use of Styrofoam, as they discontinued the use of Styrofoam to-go boxes. While this is most definitely a step in the right direction, there is still a lot left to achieve a Styrofoam-free campus. The ever popular Late Night Lakeside continues to use Styrofoam, as well as various vendors including Chick-Fil-A, Panda Express and Topio’s.
Greek houses across campus continue to use Styrofoam on a daily basis. With one of the largest Greek systems in the country, a significant amount of UA students eat in these houses every day. By transitioning to an eco-friendlier option, like paper, the Greek community alone could make a tremendous impact on the amount of waste this campus produces.
Other universities across the country have begun to make progress to phase out Styrofoam. Among those is one of our neighbors, Auburn University. In 2014 Auburn’s dining program, Tiger Dining, adopted a Styrofoam-free policy. This effectively banned any vendor on their campus from using Styrofoam, including private vendors like Chick-Fil-A. According to Auburn’s student newspaper, this transition only cost the dining program $5,000. Auburn’s Office of Sustainability shows various other commitments to increasing sustainability on campus, setting specific strategies such as an Energy Reduction Plan, Sustainability Policy, Climate Action Plan, and Tree Preservation Policy. These various policies and proposals are clearly illustrated on their website.
It’s about time that The University of Alabama makes the kind of progress Auburn has made. Every day our 37,000+ students produce nearly 40 million pounds of waste a year. As enrollment continues to grow, the amount of trash we throw away is going to continue to increase until we do something about it. There are resources to reduce this impact, and lots of these resources are already on our campus.
Bama Dining is leading some efforts to increase sustainability through using reusable to-go boxes, selling refillable tumblers for discounted drinks, and composting leftover food from dining halls. Homegrown Alabama, another one of Bama Dining’s programs, has successfully made local food accessible to students by offering a farmer’s market on campus. The SGA has also taken steps to raise environmental awareness on campus. Just last year, former SGA president Elliot Spillers created an Environmental Affairs cabinet, creating multiple roles in the SGA with the mission to increase these efforts throughout the entire campus and community.
While this campus has started a movement towards a more sustainable future, there is still lots to be accomplished before we can claim to be a green campus. Cam Smock, the SGA director of Environmental Affairs, lays out the challenges of banning Styrofoam saying, “Because Styrofoam is usually a cheaper, more effective insulator, it is sometimes difficult to convince organizations around campus to switch to recyclable or biodegradable options. Our goal this year is to make students more conscientious of the environmental impact of their decisions and hopefully choose a more environmentally friendly material.” Banning Styrofoam is an essential step towards creating the kind of environmental impact our community deserves.
Ryan Anderson is a sophomore majoring in public health. Her column runs biweekly.
