More often than not, students and organizations pay only lip service to their supposed environmental concerns. This situation involves lots of talk and little action, as we have seen oil companies like Exxon and Chevron hilariously exemplify. Unfortunately, AU students often follow the trend - they talk a big game but change little in their lives. Light bulbs stay incandescent, newspapers end up in garbage cans and things generally just don't change. Not everyone is guilty, but many undoubtedly are.
Now it is time for AU students to embrace one small change that could feasibly make a big difference over time. The Terrace Dining Room, pushed into action by AU students, has started a study to determine whether getting rid of trays will decrease waste in TDR. And while hard evidence is lacking, reports from TDR workers say that no trays equals less waste on people's plates and less things to wash.
We hope the study confirms their observations, giving TDR the go-ahead to phase out trays. If we really hope to combat global climate change, then giving up the trays at TDR is the least we can do. The slight inconvenience of needing to make an extra trip or two around the cafeteria will hopefully be paid back in our children not dying in a future environmental apocalypse.
This small step in the direction of better environmental sustainability is more noteworthy for the way that it was taken. This wasn't a decision made by faceless higher up in Bon Appetit management or even a change mandated by the government - this was a change proposed by one professor and a class of students. The course, Environmental Issues, with an assist from a public relations class, approached TDR about the program after reading an article in TIME magazine about the number of colleges going tray-less. Cheers to those responsible for advocating a small, but meaningful, change to this university.
Students and professors should also take note of the power that a class of students, spurred into action, can have on people and policy. Professors should start applying their classes to real world situations as often as possible. It gives students invaluable experience out of the classroom, and it can also be a catalyst for change.
So lets do this already. Let's get rid of the trays - we don't need them. And let's take note of all the small things around us that we can change.
