Kelli Carter ~ Guest Writer
The Burton Dining Hall at the University of Lynchburg is making strides to be more sustainable.
The changes being made range from buying from local businesses and replacing products with sustainable ones.
Lori Elholm, a shift supervisor at the Burton Dining Hall, said, “The effort to go green started a few years ago with the napkins on the table. They are recycled and this year, we made a conservative effort to change out the desert cups to recycle ones.”
Students on campus might have not realize the small steps that were taken in order to make this change happen. In the 1970’s, there were plates that got thrown out with each meal. As the years went on, they changed those plates to reusable ones.
Elholm also said that the cafeteria tries to buy from local businesses in order to support them and also, on a bigger scale, to limit the emission gasses that it takes for food products to be delivered.
This change is beneficial for the environment, but will also allow the university to save money. In the long run, the university will be helping to save the environment with all of the switches being made, according to Elholm.
The effort to increase sustainability is a trend in educational institutions across the country. Schools like Duke University, Middlebury College, and many more have been using reusable goods and buying from locals in order to be more sustainable.
The idea of buying from local businesses can be seen as well at Yale University. A spokesman from Yale puts it this way: “On the academic front, Yale needs no introduction. But, what may be less well-known is the Ivy’s commitment to its pioneering Sustainable Food Project.”
A student at the University of Lynchburg, Jessica Fuentes said, “ I didn’t realize that the cafe was going green. Yeah I saw small changes, but I just thought they were testing things out. I think this is big for the school and will help the world in the long run.”
Like Fuentes, many students on campus do not know what the cafeteria is doing in order to be more sustainable. After she learned about what steps they were taking, she was surprised at how much is being done.
