Reducing disposable
diningware usage
// projects / disposables
This fall we decided to put signs in dining halls to encourage people to use fewer disposable cups etc. I contacted Rafi Taherian (rafi@stanford.edu) with the dining halls, and he responded saying that they were willing to work with us, and that the reason for the disposable use was in part that reusable plates, etc., were disappearing faster than they could be replaced. He then forwarded me to Eric Montell (emontell@stanford.edu) also with Stanford Dining. Eric asked for a draft of information to be posted and said that signs could be made in the house, but his focus was more on disappearance of reusable plates and glasses. I met with the manager at FloMo dining to discuss the problem and get information on the amount of disposable ware that FloMo uses. She said that use has gone down a great deal this year, although FloMo still goes through a box and half of cups a week. Then I made a draft of the information and sent it. There was no response and little enthusiasm from the dining services people for this project, so now I am working with Eva to make a draft of the sign that we are happy with, so that maybe they will be more willing to have the sign if all they have to do is print it.
Dayoung Lee and other students are working on a business proposal targeted toward MoonBeans, Linx, and other campus establishments, in order to prove to them the economic sense of using potato starch cups and other biodegradable disposable products. This project is in its initial phases.
SSS has also considered helping out the Thai restaurant in building 420, which serves its food in Styrofoam containers. Emma received this message from Julie Muir on May 22, 2006 concerning the status of the food waste collection on this site:
Mon, 22 May 2006 17:19:59 -0700 (PDT)
Hi Emma,
We are not collecting food waste from this location as of yet and probably
won't be ready to expand to cafes until probably next year. For now, no
matter what type of take out container they use, it will be thrown away in
the landfill, so it does not really matter what it is made of. If and
when we do put them on the food waste collection program, they will have
to switch all of their take out items, including plates, forks, knives,
and cups to a biodegradable product. These may be slightly more expensive,
but our hope is that if the whole university is buying them, the price
will come down and also we can make the argument that composting them is
cheaper than landfilling. Lastly, the one problem we will have is how to
educate the consumers at this cafe (and others) to put their biodegradable
take out items in the compost bin when they are done.