I asked Mike Flanary, a staff assistant at the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Eco-Ambassador, about UEP’s Tupperware initiative. He described a system that reduces waste – both food and dishware – as long as students remember to bring them. Below, read more details about the program.
The Urban and Environmental Policy department hosts an event series each semester called the UEP Colloquium. The events, usually presented by alums of the program, focus on urban and environmental issues. Since they take place during Wednesday open block (12-1pm), the department provides lunch.
Mike Flanary says that with extra department funds, the department Chair, Mary Davis, wanted buy swag for students. “It’s pretty crazy the amount of objects that you can put a logo on these days and most of them aren’t very practical or usable and are rather cheap quality… Our students and faculty use the kitchen in our building for storing their lunch in the fridge and microwaving food, so when I was looking at possible swag items, this instantly came to mind.” Tupperware would be practical, especially for bringing home food from the colloquium. Otherwise, leftovers are thrown out, whether on the day of the event or later, when the fridge gets cleaned out.
Flanary described a lesson from his Eco-Ambassador training that stuck with him: Companies try to “go green” but often just to make it look or feel good, without making a dent in waste production. For example, recyclable or compostable products are more expensive and still are only used once. If they are not disposed of properly, they will end up in the waste strem along with the food that remains uneaten at the event. He quoted a proverb, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”
The response to this initiative has been positive. Many students also bring reusable water bottles, coffee tumblers, and mason jars. Flanary says that food waste has decreased. “It’s allowed students to grab some extra food for later that would probably have been thrown out. We don’t send out an RSVP for the event so we try to get enough food while not having too much leftover. Since getting the containers, we have tried to have food that fits in the containers and that people would want to have later.”
For the future, or for other departments to adopt? “Remind students to pack up their containers the day before or even better to just have it their backpack.” The production of the plastic containers will only be offset if students use the containers frequently. “My hope is that students continue to bring them to future events, but it might be like the reusable bags issue, they’re great but it only works if people actually bring them into the store, or to the events in this case. Perhaps entice people with an incentive for bringing it with them.” Other departments who would like to start a similar initiative could think about what disposables get used up often. What costs a lot when ordering through WB Mason? How could an alternative work? Do you think it would be used? Would it be convenient?
More information about past UEP events is available: https://as.tufts.edu/uep/news/colloquia
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