With the dishwasher broken, diners in Griesedieck Cafeteria have become accustomed to using Styrofoam, paper and plastic dinnerware.
Some students would prefer china for environmental reasons. Chartwells Dining Service agrees, but for economic reasons.
“We want to serve [the students] on china,” said Nadeem Zafar, director of Griesedieck Cafeteria.
He noted that the cost of using disposable dinnerware quickly adds up, especially when the cafeteria feeds 1,700 to 2,000 people each day.
Zafar explained that the cafeteria’s dishwasher continues to lack the necessary water pressure and hot water temperature to properly clean china dishware.
He said the University has been troubleshooting the matter for a while, and parts are on order.
At one point, the University attempted using china but the dishes were not being cleaned properly because the water was not hot enough to sanitize the dishes, which raised health concerns. Disposable dinnerware has been used throughout the semester.
Emily Weiss, coordinator of Just Earth, a human rights and environmental campaign of Amnesty International, said the issue of disposable dinnerware had been brought to the group’s attention earlier in the year as an environmental concern.
As the group prepared to handle the issue, one member saw an opportunity to get immediate action. At a forum with administrators and resident advisors, Just Earth member Connie Williams asked University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., if he was aware of the waste being produced by the disposable dinnerware, particularly the use of Styrofoam plates and cups. He was not.
Williams pushed to end the use of Styrofoam because it non-biodegradable whereas paper will eventually biodegrade.
“Students weren’t happy with us using Styrofoam,” Zafar said.
Recently, the Styrofoam cups and plates were replaced with paper. However, Zafar noted that paper products also have environmental impacts with the number of trees used to make it.
Zafar said that the dishwasher should be fixed by next semester. DeMattias and Reinert cafeterias have been using china for the entire semester.
