Plastic on College Campuses
College and university campuses are gatherings of huge amounts of students who are always moving around. Whether students are going to their classes or are meeting up with friends or simply going somewhere to study, they are always on the go. As a result, the convenience and use of single-use plastics(SUPs) are very prominent on college campuses...
Plastic on College Campuses
College and university campuses are gatherings of huge amounts of students who are always moving around. Whether students are going to their classes or are meeting up with friends or simply going somewhere to study, they are always on the go. As a result, the convenience and use of single-use plastics(SUPs) are very prominent on college campuses(Bruchmann et al., 2021).
Single-use plastics are plastics that are usually used only once and then disposed of (Nguyen et al., 2021). Common single-use plastics are items like bottles, caps, food wrappers, grocery bags, lids, straws, and stirrers (Nguyen et al., 2021). The main idea behind single-use plastics is that they are supposed to only be used once and then thrown away because they were made for the purpose of convenience. These items then will of course be purchased by students on campus. As previously mentioned, students on campus are usually constantly on the go so they will purchase things like bottled water, or juice along with snacks and foods that they can eat quickly before going to their next class because these pre-packaged products are convenient to move and walk around with. So it’s no surprise that university students are the primary consumers of single-use plastics on campuses(Díez et al., 2018).
Dining halls are one of the main areas that spur the continuous consumption of single-use plastics on campuses. For example, in dining halls, there are usually plastic cutleries or food that is wrapped or packaged in plastic containers, where students can just grab it, buy it, and then quickly eat it before disposing of it. In recent years, these single-use plastics have increased due to their convenience of it. However, convenience is most likely the primary reason for SUPs. It is important to keep in mind that COVID could also be a contributing factor to the increased consumption of single-use plastics over the most recent years (Reduction of single-use plastic on college campuses - Oklahoma State University 2022).
Figure 1. Cheese salad sandwich in plastic container(Johnson)
Figure 2. Global plastic and SUP production growth trends(Chen et al., 2020)
The overload and demand for single-use plastic have become a driving factor in the global production rate. In 2016, 335 million tons of plastic were produced globally( Boucher et al., 2018) and in 2018 the global production reached approximately 360 million metric tonnes and 50% of the production was single-use plastics (Chen et al., 2020). It needs to also be recognized that plastic does not really biodegrade, instead, it just breaks and fractures into smaller fragments called microplastics. This microplastic then can contaminate water and soil (Giacovelli, 2018).
Single-use plastics contain phthalic acid esters(PAEs) which can leech to packaged food, bottled drinks, or the public food chain (Chen et al., 2020). On university campuses, the dominant SUP products like food packaging are made of polypropylene(PP). Water bottles or bottled drinks are usually made of polyethylene terephthalate(PET)(Chen et al., 2020). It is important to remember that student consumer behavior seems to be one of the main contributing factors to the number of single-use plastics on university and college campuses. This over-consumption of single-use plastics can have detrimental effects on the surrounding environments.
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