Sustainability has been a trending topic across campus. From recycling to the rise in reusable water bottles, the sustainability team has the future in mind. The latest changes are new food purchasing policies. These policies will inform and educate student organizations, offices and departments on purchasing reusable or compostable items.
Anna Halverson, ’20, student worker for sustainability services and president of Green Scene, hopes that the new policy “will make people more aware of their purchases, how much influence they can actually have and the difference you can make just by what’s in your shopping cart.”
Policy guidelines
The policy emphasizes that purchases made on behalf of NCC must obey the following guidelines in order to receive reimbursement:
1. No purchases of Styrofoam products, such as cups, bowls, plates, etc.
2. Purchase foodservice wear that is either recyclable or compostable, such as forks, knives, spoons, bowls, plates, cups, etc.
Secretary of Tri-Beta Lauren Bode, ’21, recently discovered how the new policy affects food purchases. Funds were taken out of Tri-Beta’s account for an event after certain food purchases.
“I was at the first SGA budget meeting for this semester to request funds for a couple of events, including about $30 for a small movie night event,” said Bode. “We heard last semester that the policy was going to be in place … so we planned that in advance.”
New sustainability coordinator
With new policies came the new Sustainability Coordinator Kaitlin Ballard, ’12. Ballard has an array of ideas for sustainability across campus. The College set a five-year goal for sustainability.
“One of the first things with transitioning into the position is to do an assessment of those 2020 goals and then reporting on them. The next step after that will be to set new target five-year goals of where we want to go next,” said Ballard.
In terms of the recent policy implementations, Ballard hopes to get everyone thinking about making sustainable purchases. “The next level of education will be getting people to know what is available to them, where we currently have composting locations and how to make requests for events specific for composting,” said Ballard.
Bode added that having the policy will overall be beneficial for the campus.
“It’s putting an expectation in place for our campus events to be as sustainable as possible and for our leadership across campus to be incorporating sustainability into how we think about providing events or services to the community,” said Bode.
