Winter 2000 Environmental Audit - Eco-Responsibility: One Cup at a Time

Winter 2000 - Environmental Audit

Eco-Responsibility-One Cup At A Time
by Jennifer Sutton

Addiction to coffee is one thing. Addiction to buying a disposable coffee cup every day for four years is another.

The ashtrays outside Western's buildings are littered with discarded cups stained by lipstick and coffee marks. Disposable cups line trashcans. Haggard Hall's concrete receptacles overflow with remnants of addictive habits: coffee cups and cigarette butts.

"Western students throw away 3,000 disposable cups a day," Western Environmental Watch stated last year in its campaign literature.

Last year, WEW strung together discarded paper cups between Miller Hall and Bond Hall. They also had a table set up in Red Square with free buttons urging students to bring their own mugs.

Students discard approximately 2,160,000 disposable cups during a four-year period, a stack that would stretch more than 20 miles high.

"We live in a throw-away society," says Tim McHugh, who sells organic coffee on vendor's row. His stand generates at least 100 disposable cups each day. McHugh said the issue needs more attention, vocally and visually, to penetrate the consciousness of frequently sleep-deprived students.

"Ten percent of the students who buy coffee bring their own mugs," McHugh said. "I verbally encourage and praise those who do."

Paper cups account for 9 percent of the total waste measured by volume, according to the Jan. 10 through Jan. 14 waste analysis conducted by the Recycling Center, an analysis conducted to address sources of campus waste.

"Another sign needs to be made and awareness needs to continue," McHugh said. "Better promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including bringing a recyclable mug, has a lower impact on society."

The University Dining Services wrote a letter in 1998 proposing a WWU disposable cup-free-zone, encouraging students to bring their own mugs. The goal was to reduce the usage of disposable cups on campus, resulting in less waste, more storage space and reduced environmental impacts on our community. Unfortunately, the plan was never implemented.

"One effort to increase recycling isn't enough. We need a long term goal and constant incentives," said Becky Statzel, last year's coordinator for recycling education. Statzel urged the University Dining Services to adopt this plan, but said the administration did not support it.

Coffee cups make up just one part of the paper waste created on campus, but reduction is attainable: Bring a mug, help the environment and save the planet – one cup at a time.

Winter 2000 - Environmental Audit

Eco-Responsibility-One Cup At A Time by Jennifer Sutton

Eco-Responsibility-One Cup At A Time
by Jennifer Sutton