The Dish on Disposable Dishes - 2 views
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Julia Huggins on 20 Oct 10We in ENVS are all over the bon for composting waste at catered dinners/events. But do we need that waste in the first place? And what about in the lunch room -- where there's a dishwasher! -- paper cups for the special drinks? Really? And until they stop putting them out in those lines, I'm looking at you, ENVS students; plastic cups are only a few steps away.
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Zach Holz on 20 Oct 10Agreed. Today, though, they just put out a rack of the standard plastic cups in the special drink line. Albeit, there are still the paper cups right next to them... I think this tailors nicely with some of the ideas we were talking about yesterday on companies providing what they deem to be the best for the consumer. I've chatted with some people in the Bon on how they feel about those paper cups being there, and the most common response has been, "well, at least they're compostable," followed by a little shrug. I know the Bon says officially that they have been using paper cups for those special drinks because to use the regular plastic cups would be a new strain on the dishwasher and staff, and an added cost. Even from simply an efficiency standpoint, this argument seems flawed. Surely buying those cups (which are probably sold at a premium, them being sourced from "sustainable resources" and being compostable as well) costs more than running the dishwasher and sanitizer one more time (or, perhaps I am deluded in thinking that the use of the water is less expensive...). I'm curious what level of analysis has actually gone into the decision to use the paper cups, and if the data actually support the statement. Either way, from simply a cursory glance around the Bon, many seem pretty complacent in simply grabbing for what is provided for them.
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Zach Holz on 20 Oct 10Here is a link to one of the major cup companies, Solo, who markets the "Bare" paper cup as an alternative to regular cups: http://www.solocup.com/Sustainability/bare_solo_products.html I think their statement, "Since there is no one right answer for everyone, Solo provides a variety of product choices to satisfy differing priorities," is exactly what we would expect a company to say. Consumers have different tastes, and there is no "right answer" for any one of them, so the sustainable cup is just another flavor of disposable dishware. There is an inherent neutrality to this statement, and seems to connote that Solo sees their Bare sustainable line of cups as just another market option to fill a demand.
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Julia Huggins on 21 Oct 10Who would be disadvantaged by having to use reusable or compostable cups??? this is why i dont understand economics
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Lucy Roberts on 21 Oct 10Not only do the disposable cups in the Bon suck, but at the meet your major events bottled water was served, while there are water fountains just down the hall. I don't get it. And I have a big problem with Maggie's and DoveCote not selling reusable mugs or promoting the fact they have mugs you can use if you stay there.. How can we discourage this practice?
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Lu'ukia Nakanelua on 22 Oct 10Lucy I totally get what your saying. I know that Maggies has the reusable mugs but they don't advertise them, however dovecote doesn't--they do have cups though. Maybe that can be a topic we could bring up with the sustainability task force? Jim what do you think?