Earth Day Initiative Brings Back 800 Proctor Cups, 2,000 Still Missing

Author: Claire Bourne

Dining Services welcomed back over 800 plastic tumblers with open arms on Earth Day (April 22) thanks to an initiative spearheaded by Carl Larson '03, Caitlin Prentice '05 and Charles Mahal '03. The three students enlisted the help of "a couple dozen" environmentally conscious friends and acquaintances and spent the preceding weekend scouring campus common spaces for "Proctor cups" and other service ware, according to Larson.
Before Earth Day, Ross Dining Hall reported missing over 60 percent of its plastic cup supply, while Proctor posted an even greater deficit. Despite the dining ware retrieval project, Dining Services is still down about 2,000 "Proctor cups."
After collecting wayward tumblers from kitchen collection boxes and individual rooms, Larson, Prentice, Mahal and others washed them in time for Dining Services' Earth Day theme dinner. Instead of leaving the tumblers next to the drink stations, Larson and company handed out clean cups in an attempt to highlight the importance of reusable dining ware.
Because he and his collaborators could not be in two places at once, Larson asked Proctor Unit Manager Kit Quesnel to discontinue providing paper cups in lieu of the missing plastic ones in Proctor.
Many diners were forced to drink soda and juice out of small coffee mugs. The no-paper-cup policy is still in effect.
"When [plastic cups] do not get returned, we waste financial resources if we simply supplement with paper. We do not have a budget to perpetually provide this wasteful paper alternative," said Associate Director of Dining Services Matthew Biette.
Since the use of paper cups was suspended last week, the dining halls have already lost over 210 china mugs, according to Quesnel.
"The problem is larger than not having plastic cups in the dining halls," Larson said in reference to the adverse environmental impact of using one-time-use paper cups.
Larson, who always carries around a mesh bag to pick up abandoned tumblers, said he wanted people to realize that he and others who participated in the cup drive were not part of a "cup return club" but simply a group of students motivated by personal environmental concerns. Others, he maintained, should do the same. "If you want to make a sign telling people to return their cups, do it. If you see a cup, pick it up," he said.
Yesterday, Larson and Prentice recorded a Public Service Announcement encouraging the student body to return reusable dining ware from the dining halls. The message will continue to air regularly on WRMC.
Prentice said she hoped the Earth Day initiative would "carry [Dining Services] through until the end of the year."
According to Biette, Dining Services spends upward of $35,000 each year to replace china, "Proctor cups" and silverware - money that could be spent on special dinners or similar events.