Last weekend was my roommate Sarah’s birthday. Naturally, we had some friends over to celebrate her big day. By the end of the night, our apartment was a mess, with red solo cups littering every corner. The next morning, I winced each time I had to pick up a cup and throw it away, envisioning the landfill it would soon end up in. So, as college students who are bound to go to parties and throw our own, how can we change our habits to better serve the environment?
The easiest option would be to simply drink out of reusable cups. Unfortunately, my roommates and I have a pathological problem of losing our cups in unknown locations…So, reusing cups wasn’t a good idea for us (and I’m sure others can relate). I thought of a few options besides reusables: first, compostable or biodegradable cups like the ones linked below.
Another great option comes from a UVA organization called reUP cups. Their main objective is to reduce the consumption of single waste plastics within the UVA community and beyond. Their cups can be rented for events where partygoers are instructed to drop off the cups in provided bins at the end of the night. The cups can be rented for any event, big or small and cost very little to rent. I thought theirs was an ingenious idea, as we often consume exorbitant amounts of plastics during events like these. Moving forward, I wonder if the organization can try to work with fraternities or bars directly, as their events are probably use the most solo cups on campus.