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April 20, 2007 > Opinion > Bring back paper plates

Bring back paper plates

By The Rice Thresher Editorial Staff | Thresher Editorial Staff

Earth Day celebrations begin on campus today, and Sunday is the 37th anniversary of the federal holiday. With all the recent fuss about the need for greener buildings on campus and Rice’s initiatives to improve our carbon offsets, it would seem like we all have something to celebrate this weekend. So pat yourselves on the backs as you grab lunch at the serveries, and bask in the springtime sunshine by taking your lunch outside for a picnic — on a Styrofoam plate.

There is something wrong with this picture. The serveries used to offer biodegradable disposable plates. Now, every time we oversleep and have to take lunch to class with us, we must dispose of the plates from our portable meals with heavy hearts: Many students know the adverse environmental impact of expanded polystyrene thermal insulation, and some are already aware that polystyrene food packaging has been banned in at least three American cities. They may not know why Housing and Dining has decided to switch to this environmentally unfriendly option — and neither do we.

Perhaps the polystyrene is meant to guilt us into using ceramics more often. But in that scenario, students are apparently expected to take the ceramic plates to class and throw them out afterwards, and that hardly seems like a more environmentally friendly option.

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