Sustainability at SOU

Here at Southern Oregon University, the Sustainability Center has many programs currently available that many students can participate in if they are looking to move towards a more sustainable lifestyle. The mission of the Student Sustainability Center is to inspire a student body that is environmentally, socially, and economically responsible through educational programming, collaborative partnerships, and innovative initiatives. One of the programs going on at the Sustainability Center is the Dish Loan program, this is a free alternative option for SOU clubs, organizations, and departments to borrow plates, bowls, cups, mugs, and utensils for meetings and events. The purpose of This program is to help eliminate the need for disposable dishware and cutlery like paper plates or plastic spoons. The goal of this program is to take a bigger step towards Zero Waste on campus. It's important to cut down our use of disposable dishware because of how long they take to decompose, according to the New York City Department it takes around 5 years for paper dishware products to decompose. 5 years isn’t too bad for decomposing but it is also not great, plastic single-use utensils can typically take up to 1,000 years to fully decompose. The majority of plastic utensils on the market are made of polystyrene, which can release toxic chemicals when heated. Currently, eight million metric tons of plastic is being dumped in the ocean each year, in that number six million is single-use cutlery. This number is so high as 100 million plastic utensils are being thrown out by Americans every day. Plastic products are not safe for us or the environment but what about paper products? Paper takes up more space in landfills than plastic, the majority of that paper is paper dishware. These products cant be recycled and over time the paper cannot break down due to harmful materials.

It's great that the Student Sustainability Center is taking the steps to cut down our usage. One of the questions I had about the program was how many dishes do they have to offer, do they really have enough to make an impact on our campus. SOU’s Student Sustainability Center currently has nearly 100 full sets available for loan, including various sizes of plates and bowls, in addition to cups, mugs, silverware, and serving trays. The items are available on a first-come-first-served basis and there is no minimum requirement to borrow dishes. Their dish program is so useful that it even Mets goal 12 on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in this goal it talks about the dangers of toxic chemicals and waste. The UN states that gross chemical contamination can give humans damage to their health, genetic structures and reproductive outcomes, and of course the environment. In plastic products like cutlery, polystyrene is what is used to make them, this is an extremely toxic chemical and with long-time exposure, it can result in awful effects like depression, headaches, fatigue, weakness, hearing loss, and kidney failure. This chemical is something the UN is extremely concerned about as it will over time negatively affect the environment and human life. The UN is working towards spreading awareness and information about these chemicals by increasing sufficient scientific information and acknowledging the lack of resources for these harmful chemicals. In goal 12 the UN also brings up the damages of waste and how they plan to reduce the amount of waste per year. Management of hazardous waste is a huge concern and getting effective control of the storage, treatment, recycling, and recovery and disposal of hazardous waste. Prevention of hazardous wastes and the rehabilitation of contaminated sites are the key elements to get control over this situation. To start the management of waste it needs key elements like spreading knowledge amongst people, facilities, and technical and scientific capacities. The UN has plans to get waste control with these steps, preventing or minimizing the hazardous wastes as part of an overall integrated cleaner production approach. Eliminating or reducing to minimum transboundary movements of hazardous waste. Ratifying the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. Eliminating the export of hazardous wastes to countries that prohibit such imports. With SOU’s Student Sustainability Center working to prevent the usage of toxic chemicals and paper products overtime our campus will become much safer and cleaner. It's important for schools to offer sustainability options much like the dish loaning program as disposable dishware use is so common amongst college students and you are likely to see them being used at events on a college campus. Hopefully, other universities can start taking the recommended steps the UN follows and starts their own program much like Southern Oregon University and maybe one day we as a country can start decreasing the numbers of waste in the oceans or stop the harmful effects of plastic.