Straws to be Phased out Entirely

The director of Dining Services is working on a project that will eliminate plastic straws on campus. 

“For the last three years I’ve worked with and pressed manufacturers to create a new lid, similar to ones you find on to-go coffee cups,” says Director of Dining Services Errol Huffman. This project is developing as Dickinson continues to decrease its environmental impact and improve sustainability. 

Huffman said the main goal of phasing out plastic lids is to help marine life by reducing the number of plastic straws found in the waterways. “While changing from plastic straws to a new lid may not necessarily reduce the amount of plastic straws entering the waste and recycling system, elimination of straws may reduce negative impacts on marine life and others,” Huffman said. He said he hopes the newly made, no-straw-needed lids will result in all the plastic from the cups to recycling centers rather than landfills.

According to an online NBC news article by James Rainey the push to banish plastic straws in order to protect marine life is a result of a viral video from 2015 that showed rescuers saving a sea turtle by taking a plastic straw out of its nose. Large corporations began implementing plans to get rid of straws, beginning with Starbucks and American Airlines. Marriott, the Hilton Hotels and Hyatt Hotels Corporation plan to follow suit by phasing out plastic straws by the end of 2019. 

In addition, California just became the first state in the United States to ban plastic straws from being handed out at restaurants, unless the customer specifically asks for it. This is similar to the new rules for this year at Dickinson where students currently need to ask for plastic straws if they are taking to-go beverages from the Quarry, Union Station or Juice bars.  

There has been no official announcement made yet to the student body explaining the transition from plastic straws to no-straw-needed lids. Students are apprehensive about the possible change. When told of the plans to get rid of plastic straws, Emily Padalino ’20 said “I think getting rid of plastic straws on campus is good for the environment, but it is inconvenient when we are given a cup with a lid that needs a straw but no straw.”

However, after being informed of the faculty’s plans to use a lid that no longer needs a straw, Padalino believes it is a much better alternative to receiving a cup that needs a straw without also being provided a straw. She said she would have hoped the school had given notice about their plan to eliminate plastic straws before the school year started because she said, “There are a lot of people willing to buy the metal straws to use with the present cups, so that would have been another alternative approach.”

Huffman said the new lids will be available for Dining Services to purchase at some point in November, and depending on whether the stock of the lids is consistent, they will be introduced to the student body in December.