On-campus businesses now plastic bag free thanks to Student Sustainability Committee

An idea that was once circulated pre-pandemic has now become a reality: UNI on-campus businesses will no longer be using plastic bags.

In fall of 2019, the Student Sustainability Committee got in contact with UNI Dining, which runs all the retail stores on campus, with the idea of eliminating plastic waste. They wanted to take a look at reducing the amount of plastic used by students and staff by replacing all the plastic bags with either paper or reusable bags on campus. 

It first began by surveying around campus to see others’ views on plastic use—one thing they discovered was students’ interest in environmental issues and support of initiatives to reduce campus waste. The students on the committee then saw an opportunity to make an impact with their idea. The project was ready to be launched in the spring of 2020—then everything was shut down by COVID-19. The group decided to put the project on hold because of the pandemic. 

The project was brought back late last fall. They revisited the subject and everyone was very receptive. Students that manage the student green fund worked with Dining and Retail to come up with a plan to give away reusable bags to every student on campus. With that, they would be reducing the plastic use at those locations. 

They took a look at the pros and cons of the project before launching. They spent time crunching numbers and looking through how many bags were truly used in a year, which was an “eye-poppingly low number” according to Eric O’Brien, the University Sustainability Director. They discovered that most students on campus carry a bag with them and often don’t use the plastic bags in the retail locations. However, they knew they were going to need paper bags at locations in case someone did not carry a reusable bag with them.

The project was funded by the student sustainability committee, the Dining and Retail Services and the recycling and reuse center. Although the students came up with the idea originally, the help from the other departments pushed the project through. The project would not have been completed without the collaboration.

This project was not only a good change for the environment but for the students on the committee as well. Some projects by this committee are behind the scenes and sometimes go unnoticed by students.

O’Brien said, “It’s been a good talking point to discuss this and have some conversations with students. We’ve been able to use this as a springboard into some other topics that relate to environmental items but also some social responsibilities.”

O’Brien continued, “There are a lot of different directions this has been able to launch us into…It’s good to have something visible like this that we can point to and say ‘Hey, we are doing this, and in addition did you know we are doing these other five, six, seven other things that impact your daily life on campus that you might not see because they are so behind the scenes.” 

They are always looking for new ideas for different projects to impact the experience on campus. Although they have limited funding, engagement from students to put plans into motion. They want to start projects that students would like to see on campus. If students have ideas, there is a website for funding open ideas. 

 O’Brien continued, “There are a lot of different directions this has been able to launch us into…It’s good to have something visible like this that we can point to and say ‘Hey, we are doing this, and in addition did you know we are doing these other five, six, seven other things that impact your daily life on campus that you might not see because they are so behind the scenes.” 

They are always looking for new ideas for different projects to impact the experience on campus. Although they have limited funding, engagement from students to put plans into motion. They want to start projects that students would like to see on campus. 

More information about UNI sustainability and the Green Fund can be found at sustainability.uni.edu/sustainability-engagement-committee.