The Article below was published in Vol. 136, Issue 8 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on April 30, 2021.
Ayesha Younus ’24
Staff Writer
Plastic. You will find an abundance of it in the cafeteria at Lake Forest College. Is it a matter of choice or mere circumstance?
Let us take a journey through the cafeteria. It is 8 a.m. and you have just arrived at the cafeteria for a fulfilling meal to begin your day. On the walk to the Mohr Student Center, you notice the clear blue sky and the flowers coming out of hibernation from the harsh winter. It almost makes living through a pandemic worth it.
Your daydream is cut off by the feel of the green plastic monster being placed into your hands. Inside it rests a family of plastic utensils, engulfed by a single-use plastic wrapper keeping it warm until it is disposed of to reach its final destination: in the depths of the ocean. The cookies and cakes remain layered in plastic by the dessert section. The soda fountain dispensers, coffee, and tea sections host towers of non-reusable paper cups and disposable plastic straws.
The student body at Lake Forest College is displeased by the excessive use of plastic. First-years, including Cindy Landaetta ’24 and Aliya Daya ’24, describe the excessive use of plastic on campus as “uncomfortable” and “frustrating,” respectively.
“The amount of waste they produce due to plastic is enormous,” Wiktoria Pedryc ’24 said.
While the coronavirus pandemic has helped reduce emissions from transport vehicles, there has been a drastic increase in overall plastic pollution. The International Solid Waste Association estimates consumption of single-use plastic may have grown 250 to 300 percent in the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Every form of plastic used at the cafeteria, from the single-use wrappers to the plastic
Utensils, poses a bigger problem for the environment as they are non-recyclable. While these cannot be recycled on their own, they make it more difficult to recycle the other plastics with it.
Some students at Lake Forest College believe the environment should not suffer as a consequence of the pandemic and note that there are alternatives available to enable the cafeteria to reduce its plastic use.
“They could turn all the disposable items into reusable items by setting up a system in which they disinfect everything that is used,” Landaetta suggests. “The system’s already in place, it just needs to be extended to the meal boxes and cutlery,” Landaetta adds.
“We can use our own utensils,” Daya suggests. “For example, I know other universities, instead of having plastic cutlery, they gave each student a spoon, knife, and fork at the beginning of the school year,” Pedryc agrees.
While there are a variety of ways to achieve greater sustainability on campus in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, it appears some ideas are not entirely feasible. According to Bill Langlois, general manager of Parkhurst Dining at Lake Forest College, there is a lack of choice in the material they can use because of state health and safety regulations. All institutions of higher education, including Lake Forest College, are required to comply with the Interim COVID-19 Guidance for Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) by the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) under state law. Even if institutions of higher education wanted to reduce the excessive use of plastic, they are unable to make any changes and must continue to use single-use, non-recyclable wrappers. However, Langlois noted that the cafeteria will revert to recyclable material with a greater focus on sustainability as soon as state regulations are relaxed.
Pedryc believes the student body can work together to collectively counter the problem of plastic pollution in small ways. She notes people are already taking steps to reduce plastic pollution. “Obviously, you can do it yourself. I’ve seen many people who just bring their own cutlery and cups to the cafeteria so they don’t have to use the plastic stuff,” she says.
The Campus Sustainability Committee (CSC), an elected committee composed of faculty, staff, and students, and the League for Environmental Awareness and Protection (LEAP), a student organization, hosted a Sustainability Town Hall as part of their Earth Week programming via Zoom on April 19. This event was open to all those interested. Questions about sustainability from the student body and faculty were taken into consideration at this event and those in attendance were able to voice their concerns.
