The Undergraduate Senate unanimously approved a bill Sunday that would reduce plastic bag consumption on campus.
Disposable bags account for 25 percent of landfill garbage, only 2 percent of which are recycled, according to Class of 2012 Senator Amanda Merkwae, one of the bill's sponsors. The Eagle's Nest distributes more than 8,000 plastic bags per month, often to students who make small purchases, she said.
Merkwae and the bill's other supporters spoke with The Eagle's Nest management, and they agreed to consider offering reusable bags to students for a small fee. The campus bookstore also agreed to support the initiative, especially during the first two weeks of the semester when the store is filled with students buying their books for the semester. The store would encourage customers to buy reusable bags or to use their backpacks to carry books, rather than the disposable bags the bookstore currently gives, Merkwae said.
Plastic bag receptacles would also be placed around campus and in the dorms so students could effectively recycle disposable bags themselves.
The bill was initially presented as a resolution, but Class of 2009 Sen. Caitlin Hodgkins proposed its transformation into a bill due to the greater amount of weight it would hold.
If Student Government President Seth Cutter signs the bill, it will ask President Neil Kerwin to work with administration and campus representatives to enact the senate's proposal.
-LINDSEY ANDERSON
