In the midst of an economic crisis that has threatened to take away financial aid from students, led to $2 million in losses for ASUCLA and tightened budgets across departments, somehow UCLA housing still manages to buy brand new LCD screens for our dining halls, encase our paper napkins in plastic, and (as a friend of mine put it) let the sprinklers “water the pavement” on a daily basis.
Is UCLA really “going green,” as we are so often reminded? As a second-year student living in the dorms, I suspect we have only scratched the surface. Surely The Green Initiative Fund, which passed last year, has lessened our impact on the environment; according to the UCLA sustainability Web site, the program plans to allocate $200,000 annually for “greening projects.”
And yes, those biodegradable utensils and boxes are a nice addition. But when those same utensils come in a sealed plastic bag, one is forced to question the credibility of such a “greening” project.
Why we need a special fund to eliminate obviously wasteful habits defeats me. In only my morning routine I am plagued by numerous environmental travesties, beginning with a reminder of wasted electricity and gas in the dulcet tones of either a lawn mower or leaf blower (The grass is mowed so often I’m surprised we have any left. Maybe it has something to do with all the water we dump on it).
At breakfast, I’m greeted by the painfully bright LCD screens at Bruin Café, which, much to my annoyance, proceed to aimlessly flash from one menu to another until I give up on reading it and squint at the smaller (but far less moody) paper version. After I’ve ordered, I’m handed a paper receipt with my order number (which at lunch and dinner is matched with another paper slip).
Finally, I’m cheerfully handed a gigantic white paper bag supposedly meant for my apple and croissant (but, in my haste to eat, usually just ends up being for my apple) and a hard-to-open plastic bag containing a napkin and a fork.
Out of all of these, I think the LCD screens are what get me most, given their ubiquity and utter lack of usefulness. Much to my dismay, these flank nearly all the dining halls in addition to Rendezvous and B-Cafe. In addition to their maddening incompetence with displaying menus, these screens feature Powerpoint slideshows of UCLA at the De Neve dining hall. I think the last thing I want to be reminded of while I’m trying to enjoy my dinner is school. Somehow, I doubt these perpetually on, annoying, and pricey flat screens will reduce our impact on the environment. After all, the food menus change at the most once every quarter. How many trees would it kill to post one, large menu at the entrance? If we can afford all those paper fliers in the dining halls with “green tips,” why not a single menu?
The problem is that somehow we are under the delusion that becoming more environmentally conscientious has to be an arduous, expensive and highly sacrificial process. It doesn’t. The lawns don’t need to be mowed everyday. Sprinklers need to be readjusted so they aren’t shooting all over the sidewalk.
In an age where everything is digital, the paper receipt system used at the take-out restaurants is just plain outdated. But that doesn’t mean we have to be overly zealous and arbitrarily use energy-leeching LCD screens when a simple paper menu will do. I also don’t need my spoon in a plastic bag or my apple in an enormous paper sack.
Maybe I’m being nitpicky. After all, Danni Moresi, a second-year art student who has worked at Bruin Cafe and Puzzles said the food itself, not the packaging, is the most wasteful aspect of UCLA dining.
“They throw away all the insides of the bread bowls (at Bruin Cafe) … and at Puzzles, when it closes, they throw away all the pizzas that didn’t get eaten,” Moresi said.
Another student employee said the amount of food wasted depends mostly on the diners who often take more than they need. Aishwarya Viswanath, a third-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student who worked at the De Neve dining hall, said De Neve dining policies “were super strict about giving tiny portions,” and to only give them more food if they specifically ask for it.
She added that the policy also states employees aren’t allowed to take food home because it may no longer be safe to consume. “They care about your safety,” Viswanath said. It seems hypocritical that the dining hall is so concerned about individual portion sizes but unmoved when throwing away large quantities of so-called unsafe leftovers.
Whether it’s the food or its packaging, the lawn mowing or watering, one thing is clear: UCLA is not yet a green campus, and until it fixes the most basic and blatant problems of waste, it will never truly be sustainable. Yes, we do need to collectively cut back on energy consumption, but community efforts are just one aspect of the fight against global warming and will do little if large institutions hesitate to make meaningful changes.
So next time one of the paper inserts displayed on the tables at Covel tells me to take a “power shower” of less than five minutes in the name of the environment, or to use only cold water when washing my dirty laundry, I’m putting my foot down. I’d like some leftovers first.
If you think blue and gold don’t make green, e-mail Nijhawan at anijhawan@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.