The Plastic Bag Pollution Solution

Over the last 10 years, we have produced more plastic than we have during the past century. Not to mention, more than 50% of the plastic that we produce gets used once and then thrown away. In fact, enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the Earth four times!

One of the least useful plastic products produced is, not surprisingly, the plastic bag. The average plastic bag has an average use time of only about 12 minutes before it is disposed of to remain in landfills, oceans and other places for thousands of years! Annually, approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. Not to mention, their production consumes copious amounts of fossil fuels which are non-renewable resources.

On the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus, we are no stranger to the plastic bag epidemic. At all retail locations on campus, plastic bags are offered to carry food and material items purchased. Recently, RPI Dining Services has begun handing out reusable tote bags to students signed up for a meal plan. These reusable, recyclable tote bags are made out of coated water-resistant polypropylene. They can be used to carry groceries, meals-to-go and even books and merchandise purchased at the campus store.

Here at RPI, we are taking the necessary steps in order to reduce the amount of plastic waste currently residing in landfills. Not to mention, providing students with free reusable tote bags!

Rensselaer Dining Services Brings Students Clean Water

On October 16th at about 6:00 pm, portions of the water system between Congress St. and Frear Park Road in Troy, NY lost pressure due to an emergency shutdown of a water main for maintenance purposes. Unfortunately, when the water mains lose pressure it increases the chance of untreated water or potentially harmful microbes entering the system. In light of this, Troy issued a voluntary boil water advisory for a few days until routine sampling of the water was completed to ensure safety.

This emergency situation has greatly impacted the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus. Students have been advised not to drink water from the sink in their residence halls or from any of the sinks or water fountains on campus. Due to the lack of available, safe drinking water on campus, Rensselaer Dining Services has partnered with Pepsi to bring free bottled water to campus residents. Students can get up to three bottles of water each day by showing their student ID at the Pepsi truck parked behind the Commons Dining Hall. Moreover, clean drinking water is available inside each of the dining halls, as well as juice and cans of soda. The Rensselaer Dining Services staff has been extremely accommodating to students during this tough time.

In light of all the mayhem occurring over the past two days, we must remember that 783 million people in the world today live without access to clean drinking water. This number equates to 1 in 9 people worldwide. While this may be a slight inconvenience for the students of RPI and the citizens of Troy, NY, we should remain very grateful that we have the luxury of access to clean and safe drinking water on a daily basis

Reusable Mugs: an investment in the future

On average, Americans throw away 25 billion styrofoam coffee cups every year. Considering styrofoam cannot be completely recycled, most of it disposed of today will still be found in landfills 500 years from now! Don't jump to any conclusions though, paper cups aren't much better. According to Starbucks Global Social Impact Report, close to 4 million to-go cups end up in landfills annually. Why not recycle or compost them? Unfortunately, most paper cups, like Starbucks, are lined with plastic making them unable to be recycled or composted.

Rensselaer Dining Services has taken matters into their own hands by gifting a reusable mug to all students that sign up for a dining plan. These reusable mugs are made of BPA-free recyclable plastic and are manufactured in the USA. Not to mention, they are also microwave and dishwasher safe. To incentivize student use, Rensselaer Dining Services has offered $1.25 coffee refills when using the mug-- even cheaper than a small cup of coffee. Though there are no formal statistics reporting how many students actually use these mugs, as a member of the RPI community I see many students each day carrying their mug to the retail cafes on campus to fill-up on coffee before class. 

Diminishing styrofoam and paper waste is a colossal challenge that demands the attention of people all over the world. However, the efforts taken by small communities is the first step to conquering this problem. Here at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, we are taking the steps towards becoming the change the world needs and in doing so we hope to inspire other campuses around the country to do the same.