{"id":145144,"date":"2019-01-18T08:02:05","date_gmt":"2019-01-18T13:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=145144"},"modified":"2023-06-27T13:03:17","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T17:03:17","slug":"dining-services-ends-use-plastic-bags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2019\/01\/dining-services-ends-use-plastic-bags\/","title":{"rendered":"Dining Services Ends Use Of Plastic Bags"},"content":{"rendered":"

The use of plastic bags will become a thing of the past for UConn\u2019s Department of Dining Services at its retail and Grab & Go locations when the 2019 spring semester begins on Monday, Jan. 21.<\/p>\n

\n

Reducing waste is about the well-being and health of every citizen. — Kelly Rafferty '20 (CLAS)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The change, being made in support of the University\u2019s ongoing sustainable efforts, is the result of a joint effort between Dining Services and the Zero Waste Campaign of UConnPIRG<\/a>, a student-run activism and advocacy group on campus.<\/p>\n

Brown paper bags that are 100 percent recyclable and reusable will now be available at the cost of ten cents each. In addition, Dining Services will be offering reusable pocket size shopping bags for sale at the Union Central Exchange in the Student Union.<\/p>\n

Dining Services will also be working with UConnPIRG this semester to establish drop off containers so that paper bags may be recycled or utilized by other consumers at no cost to them.<\/p>\n

\"Patricia<\/a>
Patricia Ruffino, a cashier at the Union Street Market, fills a paper bag with a purchase. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur goal is to change the culture on campus and have students think of what they can use as an alternative for plastic bags,\u201d said Dennis Pierce, executive director of Dining Services. \u201cMaybe they will use a collapsible grocery bag, or put their food in their backpack. In many states and in many places, plastic bags are not even an option anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move is reflective of other eco-friendly changes Dining Services has made over time, such as eliminating the use of plastic trays and straws.<\/p>\n

During the 2017-18 fiscal year, UConn Dining Services used approximately 385,000 plastic bags in its retail operations and for Grab & Go\u2019s \u2013 meals that are given students to eat outside of the cafeterias.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reasons for banning plastic bags go beyond the environment,\u201d said Kelly Rafferty ’20 (CLAS), who became a campus champion for this cause as a member of UConnPIRG and the Zero Waste Campaign. \u201cThere are human rights and animal issues as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The junior English major from Newtown, Connecticut, explained that most of the plastic bags that are intended for recycling in the United States are sent overseas. There, most of the bags are burned over open fires by individuals, many of them children or the elderly, into a small amount of plastic that they sell.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very dangerous and bad for them \u2013 they don\u2019t even use a mask or any kind of protection,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rafferty began her efforts to get rid of plastic bags in the Town of Mansfield by working with its Solid Waste Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to their town meeting and was taught how to write proposals, how to bring ideas forth, and all about petitioning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She then brought the concept to students, when she learned, however, that Mansfield ordinances do not apply to the UConn campus.<\/p>\n

\"Sasha<\/a>
Sasha Richardson, a graduate student, signs the UConn PIRG petition at the Student Union to ban plastic bags in Dining Services locations on campus. Also shown are Alex Pawlka, left, and Tori Zane. (Photo courtesy of UConn PIRG)<\/div>
bag3<\/div>
Sasha Richardson, a graduate student, signs the UConn PIRG petition at the Student Union to ban plastic bags in Dining Services locations on campus. Also shown are Alex Pawlka, left, and Tori Zane. (Photo courtesy of UConn PIRG)<\/div><\/div>\"Miguel<\/a>
Miguel Bucaro, left, and Xinyu Lin, both of UConn PIRG, collect signatures at the Student Union in support of a petition to ban plastic bags in Dining Services locations on campus. (Photo courtesy of UConn PIRG)<\/div>
bag2<\/div>
Miguel Bucaro, left, and Xinyu Lin, both of UConn PIRG, collect signatures at the Student Union in support of a petition to ban plastic bags in Dining Services locations on campus. (Photo courtesy of UConn PIRG)<\/div><\/div>\"Kelly<\/a>
Kelly Rafferty, left, and Isabel Umland, both of UConn PIRG, celebrate Dining Services' decision to ban plastic bags in its retail and Grab & Go facilities. (Photo courtesy of UConn PIRG)<\/div>
bag1<\/div>
Kelly Rafferty, left, and Isabel Umland, both of UConn PIRG, celebrate Dining Services' decision to ban plastic bags in its retail and Grab & Go facilities. (Photo courtesy of UConn PIRG)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

In a survey of\u00a0 students in the dining halls regarding their opinions about a possible plastic bag ban, she found that 90 percent of students were in favor of it. UConnPIRG then had a petition campaign and secured signatures of more than 1,000 students, and it was this that led to Dining Services’ new policy.<\/p>\n

UConnPIRG backed up their efforts with screenings of the movies \u201cA Plastic Ocean<\/a>\u201d and \u201cBag It<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very interested in the politics of climate change,\u201d said Rafferty, who was previously president of the Recycling Club at Wilton High School. \u201cReducing waste is about the well-being and health of every citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The change supports the University\u2019s ongoing sustainable efforts and is the result of a joint effort between Dining Services and the Zero Waste Campaign of UConnPIRG.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":145252,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1715,2387,2225,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2113],"class_list":["post-145144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-impact","category-sustainability","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-26 11:04:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145144"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145279,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145144\/revisions\/145279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/145252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145144"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=145144"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=145144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}