The University of Connecticut’s Department of Dining Services will be eliminating the use of plastic bags in its retail and grab & go venues. Effective, Monday, January 21st UConn Dining will discontinue the use of plastic shopping bags in support of the university’s ongoing sustainable efforts.
This initiative, to discontinue the use of plastic shopping bags, was jump started by a subcommittee of UConnPIRG, a student run, nonprofit organization on the UConn Campus. Their campaign, to phase out the use of plastic bags, was supported by student surveys and petitions. Beyond policy work, PIRG’s zero waste committee enhanced student awareness regarding the pitfalls of single-use plastics through educational lectures and movie screenings. These initiatives highlighted the deleterious impact of plastic bags on both environmental and public health.
Dining Services will be discontinuing the use of plastic bags in all of their retail operations as well as in their Grab & Go’s. In place of the use of the former plastic bag UConn Dining will be offering a brown paper, 100% recyclable and reusable bag at the cost of ten cents each. In addition, Dining will be offering reusable pocket size shopping bags for sale at cost at the Union Central Exchange located in the Student Union.
Dining Services will also be working with UConn PIRG this semester to establish drop off containers so that paper bags may be recycled utilized by other consumers at no cost to them.
For more information, read the story in UConn Today:
https://today.uconn.edu/2019/01/dining-services-ends-use-plastic-bags/