Can you save the planet and drink "creamy Frangelican" coffee at Alpine Bagels and Brews at the same time?
Dining Services hopes to do just that by replacing Styrofoam cups with wax-coated paper cups as soon as current stocks are depleted, said Bruce Eckmeder, assistant director of Dining Services.
Dining Services' new trend toward environmental policies follows an early February meeting between Eckmeder and Trinity senior Mike Dietze, a member of the Duke Environmental Alliance. At that time, Dietze expressed his group's opposition to the use of Styrofoam, a plastic product. "The disadvantage of any plastic product... is that it is made from non-renewable resources," Dietze said. "[Manufacturing Styrofoam] is a pretty toxic process, [it] doesn't biodegrade and the recycling process is very inefficient."
Jeffrey Peirce, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, agreed with Dietze. "There are huge environmental trade-offs [associated with Styrofoam]," Peirce said. "The good news is you don't use detergent to clean it, but the bad news is it fills up landfills." He added that oil and gas products are used in its production. A recyclable aluminum container "would be perfect. You don't have to use detergents and [aluminum doesn't] go to a landfill," he said.
Eckmeder said Dining Services has also begun pursuing alternatives to the current hinged Styrofoam take-out boxes. Not all vendors have submitted their alternatives yet.
There are several problems with non-Styrofoam containers, Eckmeder explained, including cost, heat retention, use in the microwave and ease of use.
Alternatives include clear plastic containers, aluminum bases with clear plastic lids and thick aluminum foil bases with cardboard lids. Both the foil and plastic containers cost 12 cents while the aluminum and plastic box option costs about 25 cents. Each Styrofoam container costs about six cents.
One drawback of the proposed aluminum container is that it can not be microwaved. "You could stick it in an oven, but I think most people are on microwaves these days," Eckmeder joked.
Graham Butler, coordinator of Duke Recycles, said another potential difficulty with the aluminum container would be removing all the food and grease before recycling.
Even with a switch away from Styrofoam, food prices would not increase, said Jim Wulforst, director of Dining Services. "There's enough of an environmental and financial concern that we would spend the money [for a better container] and just have no new [dining] concepts for a while," he said. "It's just that important to us."
Some students said they would be willing to pay from 10 to 50 cents extra for an environmentally safer container. Engineering freshman Jenny Hong, for one, said Dining Services should charge the cost of the container to students who order their food to go.
Dining Services officials have also considered selling reusable mugs to reduce disposable cup usage. The plan would most likely involve discounted refills.
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