Students on Sustainability

Stephanie Kim

December 16, 2008

Final Portfolio: Paper #3 Rewrite

Students on Sustainability              The website of Bryn Mawr College’s dining services proudly states that it “is committed to providing the most environmentally friendly dining program possible and one that supports the BMC Community.” It also states that Bryn Mawr promotes recycling and offers bio-degradable takeout. There are other plans that reuse oil and use local produce. Personally, I feel that Bryn Mawr is not as truly environmentally friend than it claims, evident by the amount of food scraps that is thrown away daily. The Sustainable Endowment Institute works to encourage colleges and universities to strive for environmentally-friendly ways to deal with issues like transportation, green buildings, energy, and food and recycling. It rated food and recycling at some of our Seven Sisters and our tri-co college Swarthmore a proud A. Bryn Mawr, on the other hand, received a flat B because of the lack of recycled food scraps (Endowment Institute 42). Overall, the Endowment Institute gave Bryn Mawr a poor score: a C plus.  Although it is not guaranteed that Bryn Mawr promotes fair trade coffee, cage free eggs, and local farms and dairies, it is for certain that Bryn Mawr supports it. The dining halls nudge students to choose certain products over others by providing a wider variety such as having more fair trade coffee available and having a large basket of locally picked apples next to the trays and utensils. The food that is made and not consumed by students are given to Philabundance, where it is then given to those who cannot afford to buy their own food. If Bryn Mawr has set programs and plans to help reduce food scraps and use local products but still hasn’t found an efficient solution to be as sustainable as possible, it must mean that they are not properly regulated. The remaining responsibility lies within the students of the school.After a semester at Bryn Mawr, I began realizing that a very small number of students consciously acknowledge and take an environmentally-friendly attitude. Students thoughtlessly put food onto their plate and throw them out without realizing the consequences of food waste. “I take however much I want, but often times I realize that the food doesn’t taste like I expected it to or I just don’t feel like finishing it,” said Cho Long Park, a freshwoman at Bryn Mawr.              The Greens Committee has been striving to help save resources and be as environmentally-friendly as possible. Posters were created and hung asking students whether they really needed a tray that needed large amounts of water to clean or if they were going to eat everything put onto their plate. According to a recent survey and experiment done by the Greens Committee, a group of Bryn Mawr women for environmental responsibility and action, an average of about 10,000 lbs of food scraps are thrown away daily at the Bryn Mawr dining halls. Despite the efforts put by the Greens Committee, Bryn Mawr still continuous to throw away notable amounts of food scraps instead of recycling them. Although Bryn Mawr Dining Services should find better solution handling food scraps, it is also important to note that students are responsible. Students should take small portions of food and take pieces of fruit or vegetables in reusable containers back to their rooms as snacks later, instead of having them thrown out. Bryn Mawr provides a short description of their recycling description on campus: “We recycle in all of our dining halls and cafes, and provide recycling at all of our outdoor special events…” (Dining Services). This may be true, but without the cooperation of students, sustainability at Bryn Mawr will be hard to achieve. Works CitedSustainable Endowment Institute. The College Sustainability Report Card 2008. <http://www.endowmentinstitute.org/sustainability/CollegeSustainabilityReportCard2008.pdf>Bryn Mawr Dining Services. 2007 <http://www.brynmawr.edu/dining/sustainability/index.htm>