Plastic bags have always been one of the biggest concerns to the environment as they take such a long time to decompose and they contaminate the ocean, the soil, or whatever kind of environment they get stuck in after being used. Therefore, starting from this academic year, The Market in the university has introduced the reusable bag made by Environmental Action Group which will replace the use of plastic bags when buying food on campus.
“It takes a little bit of practice, just like anything you started doing. Once it gets in your mind and habit, I do think is easy. I myself went through that transition phase when trying to use a reusable bag in the grocery store,” Dr. Nicholas Hennessy, the manager of sustainability, said when being asked about the convenience of the reusable bag.
Students are usually into using plastic because they are so convenient. They can ask for one anytime that they want to buy something and get rid of it after they finish. For the reusable bag, students will have to carry it with them all the time if they want to buy stuff in The Market, Falcon’s Nest, or normal grocery store.
“The bag is easily put into a backpack. When there is nothing in the bag, it folds down flat and students can carry it in their backpacks,” Dr. Nicholas elaborated about the convenience of the bag.
“The Market used to be a big source of plastic bags, but they don’t have them anymore. Students will have to have the reusable bags, or they won’t have a bag. The Falcon’s Nest in the Union still has plastic bags upon request of the students. Not every single venue on campus has done away with them,” Dr. Hennessy discussed about the event of having reusable bags on campus.
“I see many people using their bags and we have been able to hand out a majority of the bags,” Olive Bartholomew, the president of Environmental Action Group and a senior majoring in International Studies and Spanish, said about the availability of the bags.
Since the beginning of this semester, despite the easy accessibility to the plastic bags in Falcon’s Nest, many students have been seen to carry the reusable bags around campus when they want to buy food.
“It will reduce single-use plastic bad consumption on campus and spread a message of sustainability to all,” Olive talked about the advantages of the reusable bags.
From the environmental perspective, single-use plastic bags are a huge waste of resources while the life span of one plastic bag is 12 minutes. There are too many negative things resulting in using plastic bags. Using the reusable bag is the easiest way to save the environment.
“The bag holds more, it’s stronger than a single-use bag, it’s free to any students that want one, it’s washable, you can use it all the year with no problem. I don’t see any disadvantages for this bag,” Dr. Hennessy mentioned the advantages and disadvantages of the reusable bags.
“We hope to change the culture if using single-use plastics out of convenience to raising awareness about the harm that these products create,” Olive said about their goal of introducing the reusable bags.
The event of making the reusable bags go into practice is the first step of changing the culture surrounding plastic bag use and raising awareness about sustainable practices. If you are reading this and haven’t got a free reusable bag yet, please get one from Marketplace dining locations, campus sustainability office and literally anywhere.
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