Regardless of the ways in which single-use plastics impact the environment, millions of Americans take part in the daily ritual of throwing away plastic after using it for mere minutes. Throwaway culture results in millions of tons of plastic waste entering landfills, incinerators and the world’s oceans every year. COVID-19 has exacerbated the widespread use of “disposable” plastic, dismissing years of progress on plastic pollution in the name of a false sense of security.

Syracuse University has been a leading institution in sustainability for decades. However, safety precautions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have created an unnecessary rise in single-use plastic.

SU’s Dining Services made substantial changes this fall to how students receive food, eliminating reusable to-go boxes and plates and replacing them with biodegradable disposables. However, pastries, fruits and condiments packaged in plastic containers and plastic bags are readily available for any student to use. Despite the biodegradable packaging, Dining Services’ plastic packaging is the antithesis of SU’s years of sustainability policy.

Sustainability doesn’t mean sacrificing safety during the pandemic. The American Chemical Association found no credible evidence that the use of plastic bags is advantageous for diminishing the spread of COVID-19 when compared to the use of reusables. Despite this, New York State’s “Plastic Bag Ban” went unenforced under the false premise that plastic bags somehow decreased the spread of COVID-19.

Only 9% of the world’s plastic has been recycled, meaning that environmental pollution from plastic waste is inevitable. For SU students, each meal almost guarantees plastic waste. At Kimmel Dining Hall, sandwiches from the deli come wrapped in paper, but workers are trained to place the already sufficiently-wrapped sandwiches in plastic bags. At Ernie Davis Dining Hall, fruits, salads and bakery items are pre-packaged in plastic.

A system of plastic pollution was already unsustainable before the pandemic. Now, SU students are consuming substantially more plastic, which means even more pollution that ecosystems across the globe cannot handle.

SU has the opportunity to implement sustainable solutions to the plastic crisis. But there’s no indication the university plans to do so. While addressing the possible contact points students and workers may encounter, Dining Services only considered part of the issue.

The university remains less sustainable than in years past due to a lack of environmental consideration in its COVID-19 protocols. Students will now consume more plastic than in years past. In turn, this plastic will contribute to the tons already polluting the environment.

Harrison Vogt is a sophomore environment sustainability policy and communication and rhetorical studies dual major. His column appears bi-weekly. He can be reached at hevogt@syr.edu. He can be followed on Twitter at @VogtHarrison

Published on September 2, 2020 at 11:09 pm