By Olivia Korvas
Thanks to the SGA President, Hailey O’Brien, SGA E-Board and Senate, as well as Jeff McVoy and Alison Whiney of Chartwells Dining Services, there is now a change from paper to plastic straws on the Fitchburg State University campus. According to Eddie Brown, Vice President of Student Government Association here at FSU, this process began when SGA President O’Brien spoke with Jeff McVoy, the Food Services Director about making the environmentally-friendly switch.
It was a simple conversation among two people that has turned into what SGA and Chartwells hopes to be a very positive change on campus. Brown talked about McVoy’s openness to the proposition and how Chartwells even had the idea beforehand. SGA’s involvement, though, was the extra push needed and that is how this initiative was able to come to fruition.
According to Amy Koonin of Ruban Global, a technology company that provides solutions for waste and recycling, the surge in plastic production has negatively affected the environments, with the world’s oceans taking a significant blow. Plastic straws are non-recyclable and are used by many every day. Koonin talks about the fact that plastic straws can take anywhere up to 200 years to decompose, and the fact that they are non-biodegradable is the reason for this. Fitchburg’s switch from plastic to paper straws allows for a biodegradable option on campus.
Brown feels as though this new modification to Fitchburg State will aid future students and the community overall, and brought up the power of state schools. “Reducing plastic waste to support the environment in any way we can is a big priority just for the future of our community.” Brown also comments, “No matter what people say, state schools lead the way … and I hope more campuses will be more adaptive to a great change such as this one.”