By Lucas Graziani
There are various human-environment interactions at George Mason University, some of which evidently play pivotal roles in our institution’s ability to adapt to a more sustainable way of life and the pursuit of being considered an environmentally cognizant college ever focusing on the future preservation of our planet. With regard to the ever-growing climate crisis and its prevalence in all facets of society, these changing times are also slowly giving rise to a shift in mentality in terms of being more environmentally conscious and recognizing the significance of living a renewable lifestyle. George Mason University and many other higher education institutions have declared a push towards becoming more sustainable, resource-friendly, and gradually lowering waste output and emission levels for the benefit of the natural environment. With society as a collective desiring more emphasis, financing, legislation, and effort in transitioning towards a more environmentally friendly direction, the formation of environmental declarations like the Stockholm Declaration in 1972 —referencing the focus on increased sustainability in higher education schools— primarily emphasized the important relationship and interdependency between the human species and the environment (Wright, 2002). Moreover, the subsequent Tibilisi Declaration and its respective conference reiterated the significance of human-environment interactions as well as voicing the need to push for widespread environmental education of all ages, giving way for more progressive and sustainable ideals in colleges and universities alike (Wright, 2002). With that being said, although there is a widespread positive outlook/opinion and consensus on shifting to a more sustainable campus living style among the students and faculty through newly implemented applications, amenities, and programs here at George Mason University, there are still certain persistent, unabating aspects of the institute’s less resource-friendly programs in motion. Furthermore, the intermittent and sporadic transitioning of Southside dining tableware to single-use plastics is the human-environment interaction that I have chosen.
As a consequence of the lack of dining hall staff members to wash dishes and utensils upon occasion, Southside superiors make the decision to switch all of the tableware to single-use plastics along with some mixed paper amenities. With that being said, this plastic tableware is also depicted as “Eco products”, “Eco friendly”, “Biodegradable”, or “Compostable” as an effort by the plastic manufacturers to appeal to the sustainable ideals of students to get them to use their products, when in fact they are not. This is a form of greenwashing, where unsustainable and environmentally harmful plastic companies make false claims of biodegradability and label their products with such phrases for financial gain (Viera et al., 2020). These companies can also utilize depictions of nature such as leaves or the color green to represent the illusion of sustainability or environmentally friendly motives (Viera et al., 2020). Moreover, manufacturing, use, and disposal of these single-use plastics directly implicate waste discharges, air emissions, land contamination, and use of resources regarding the aspects of the environment. The production requires the extraction and utilization of fossil fuels like gas and oil which create carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. The use of these products for food consumption also increases waste pollution and creates land contamination due to the false depiction of biodegradability. These single-use products remain in the environment almost indefinitely as they do not decompose or biodegrade for hundreds to thousands of years, adding to their negative environmental potential for threatening ecological wildlife as well as the discharging or spreading of their associated chemical toxins.
With regard to the human interaction side in this human-environment relation, students and faculty who utilize Southside dining and its “grab-n-go” system known as Gold Rush are involved in the false pretenses of this greenwashing scheme by the plastic manufacturing industry. It is currently unclear if the authoritative body of George Mason dining is aware they are fostering this issue and under the same mistaken impression of biodegradability and disinformation of the environmental impacts, or merely indifferent/unconcerned with the situation. Some notable drivers of the use of these single-use plastics are the lack of employees available to maintain the inflow of dishes to clean and the carelessness of students/faculty or the unintentional ignorance of the role of greenwashing. Although some items may state that they are biodegradable, compostable, eco-friendly, or decomposable, most of them are made of polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene, and/or PET which cannot be biologically destroyed or recycled at most recycling treatment facilities (Amhil admin, 2020).
In terms of social contexts with regard to this unsustainable problem, resource policies, media organization, market incentivization, and economic development play the biggest roles in influencing the resilience of these products in campus life. Social media incessantly advertises single-use plastic products from stores on campus to students, shifting resource policies mandate the use of these products when lacking in staff members, and lastly economic development and market incentives such as greenwashing and cheap costs advocate for the use of single-use plastic tableware. As for ecosystem-related settings, the use and disposal of these products lead to landfills or litter around campus that cannot degrade which in turn results in wildlife endangerment and the spreading of harmful toxins. If these products are also added to a composting initiative, they will only negatively affect its process.
Management strategies regarding this environmental sustainability dilemma can focus on the act of educating people and making them aware of greenwashing and its role in campus dining. People can also be more informed in matters of deciding purchases based on the correct labeling of single-use products and the proper manner of discarding waste. Increasing pay rates and hiring more staff members to account for the shortages may also prove to be a feasible option pertaining to the problem of not having enough people to maintain the tableware at dining halls. As far as the Student Environmental Justice Alliance organization, the Green Patriots organization, and I are aware, the university is currently fostering/abetting the random changes to single-use plastics as a way of mitigating staff compensation.
Location of the Human-Environment interaction
References
Amhil admin. (2020). How plastic cups are made? Amhil. https://amhil.eu/en/2020/04/02/how-plastic-cups-are-made/
Viera, J. S. C., Marques, M. R. C., Nazareth, M. C., Jimenez, P. C., & Castro, I. B. (2020). On replacing single-use plastic with so-called biodegradable ones: The case with straws. Science Direct. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901119313656?casa_token=xDQ9Hv0lZCoAAAAA:6Goep3J-FYEir8nrs1-ZFpqNtRcO0EPm4HRJgHdojgPK1NPzVfrsjWRuezElxZmnu4l3uVOpFA
Wright, T. S. A. (2002). Definitions and frameworks for environmental sustainability in higher education. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0952873302000028?casa_token=IykLJmMvfmgAAAAA:nDqpv7Ml9z2Pszz72ZzXqg93zGDOlh3_KHNfUL5oIgptVHCQX6Z38aiGME3kzziCMkF597sShw