As a Penn State student, I, like many others frequent the HUB on a day to day basis. Walking in the doors you may have noticed the sign that greets you saying, “Penn state is number 1 in the BIG10 in sustainability”. That’s great! Don’t get me wrong, being a leading university among our rivals in sustainability is not only a huge feat but also an important one. So whats my grievance with this sign? It’s misleading.

I too have fallen into the trap. Once in Elementary School, for Earth Day, my teachers had us bring a lunch to shcool that produced no waste. At recess that day I felt like I had saved the planet. The impact of one Elementary School class producing no waste at one lunch is not much, but it is something. The danger, here, however, is believing that that’s enough. The danger is the child swinging, and sliding with a full stomach sure they have now preformed their due diligence.

This example may seem silly, of course an Elementary School student cannot fully grasp the concept of climate change or understand just how profoundly the habits of human beings must change to make an impact. But the underlaying message remains the same. Just because you turned off the water while brushing your teeth, opted for your reusable water bottle instead of plastic one, or have become the most sustainable university in the BIG10 does mean you can call it a day.

Have you ever looked up while eating in the cafeteria? Have you noticed the signs that count our food waste every day. 40,000 x three meals a day creates a lot of waste. Food waste creates a lot of carbon. A lot. A student report on Penn State’s food waste found that an average of 130,000 metric tons of food waste is produced across the State of Pennsylvania by Penn State Undergraduate students over the course of one year. 130,000 metric tons. Keep in mind that this is only one University of the many across our nation, and globe.

 

With the number 130,000 bouncing around in my head, and reflecting on my daily HUB greeting, the message on the sign began to ring more negatively than it did positively in my ear. “Penn State is the most sustainable University in the BIG10” — “That’s great! We should be proud”. Suddenly the message began to sound more like, “The minimum level of sustainability the Universities in the BIG10 are able to achieve is 130,000 metric tons of food waste every year”.

 

Believe me, I understand the underlying factors. Penn State is big, theres a lot of people. A lot of people are going to eat a lot of food and somewhere along the way food waste will be produced. Nonetheless 130,000 metric tons is a massive quantity of food waste, and the fact that its the best of the whole BIG10 I found discouraging.

But– lets not be too quick to judge. If we decide to see Penn State’s message in a positive light again, we can hear them telling us that sustainability is important to them. So what actions are they taking? How do we get 130,000 tons to be a smaller number. For starters Penn State has a wide variety of groups pursuing climate initiatives. Groups that include students, and faculty alike where they are represented on councils, working to tackle the issue of climate change on both large, and small scales. There are groups committed to addressing issues at individual campuses, within the athletic department, and efforts focused on researching the issue as a whole.

The Penn State Student Sustainability Advisory Council in particular makes efforts to unite students and bring about concrete change in our community. This past semester they worked to implement educational measures about the environment and climate change in the University curriculum. They tried to reduce food waste in campus cafeterias by encouraging tray-less dining. They worked to bolster, and make more simple, residential recycling programs, and get students involved in sustainability both inside and outside the classroom. Similarly they worked to promote and provide more sustainable landscaping that caters to a multitude of ecosystems across our area and campus.

The Athletic department at Penn State is likewise working to incorporate more sustainable methods into their work. They are removing trees from the Penn State golf course due to safety concerns, while working to make the process as sustainable as possible. The University is implementing new lighting into sports arenas to make them more carbon friendly, and similarly implementing in depth recycling initiatives in those spaces as well.

On top of all that, the student government at University Park is striving to support and promote the sustainability initiatives led by smaller groups like these.

It’s clear that our impact on the environment isn’t being ignored. Several branches of our community are reaching out to identify, research, and combat the habits that us Penn State Students have that are hurting our environment. The problem however, is, is it enough?

Have you ever looked in the recycling bins you pass by in our buildings? How often has every bin been filled with only that which is allowed to be there? Do you know what happens to contaminated recycling? — it can’t be recycled. So how big of an impact is our recycling initiative making if we can’t follow through on it?

What about food waste? How often do you clear your plate? Your friends? Their friends? Look up at the screens in the cafeteria once in a while, you may be shocked by our daily number of food waste produced.

So, just as we can’t call one small action of ours enough to combat the climate crisis, we likewise can’t write-off our wrongdoings. Look around. if 40,000 people can produce 130,000 metric tons of food waste a year, I can confidently say you’re not the only one who sorted their recycling wrong. Be worried. Hold yourself accountable. And be a part of the call for our greater community to do better.

Resources

Agrawal, Anshika. “Food Waste from Campus Dining Commons Could Feed Fans of Four Sold out Penn State Football Games.” The Daily Collegian, The Pennsylvania State Univerisy, https://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/campus/food-waste-from-campus-dining-commons-could-feed-fans-of-four-sold-out-penn-state/article_e7477c52-bf72-11e7-bf44-273401e7ee3e.html.

Jain, Divya. “Carbon Negative: Reducing Dining’s Carbon Foodprint at Penn State.” Hub-Media, Pennsylvania State University, 2020, https://hub-media.aashe.org/uploads/353-ReducingDiningReport.pdf.