Learning   Portfolio

            This Monday I observed some of the effects my school, USFSM, has on the environment it exists in. I discovered that there are many positive environmental strategies that the school applies, but there are still plenty of ways it can improve. Along the way, I found many problems the school faced, from extensive water usage, improper draining, waste, and even a lack of green energy. To narrow down my research, I decided to focus on the first thing that caught my eye on my journey. I began at the Jonathan’s Café because I was hungry, and I figured a café setting would generate a lot of waste that might get disposed of improperly. I was correct in assuming this, because I found two major issues having to do with recycling. First, the cups used for fountain drinks were hefty Styrofoam cups, which, if not recycled, can be a major hazard to the environment. Second, the recycling bins didn’t seem to have a large enough opening to fit all recycle-able materials into. I decided to investigate these two problems further, and see how my school can improve on these issues.

 

            The Styrofoam cups used in the café were a major concern to me because of how obvious the problem was and the fact that it could be so easy to fix. Styrofoam that is thrown away instead of recycled can be a major threat to the environment. Styrofoam that piles up in landfills “takes 500 years to break down.” (Ginty) It was difficult to see the café so cluttered with Styrofoam cups, as they are very harmful to nature. I took a detour during my exploration to stop at Selby auditorium for free pizza and sodas provided by Sarasota County, and to my surprise I did not find a cooler full of canned sodas or even Styrofoam cups. There were four two-liter bottles of soda and a couple stacks of recycled, biodegradable single-use cups. These cups didn’t even include fancy printing for labeling. Instead they had a simple stamp that very simply illustrated that the cup would disintegrate easily in water. As I thought more about it, I realized that these cups should not be very expensive, and they are designed to be used once and then disposed of. I figure most people that pick up a fountain drink at Jonathan’s Café don’t plan on using that cup for more than a few hours and will eventually throw it away when they are done. Replacing Styrofoam cups with bio-degradable single-use cups would be a cost-effective way to reduce plastic pollutants, and it would not require most people to change any of their usual habits.