Campus goes green with new flatware

Coffee and potatoes, anyone?

Perhaps you've noticed the new cups, lids, to-go containers, plates and plastic are available campus wide. The movement to make the City College's food system more sustainable is continuing to gain speed with the installment of these biodegradable and compost-compatible items.

"The idea is zero waste," said Leif Skogberg, program coordinator for the Center for Sustainability.

Director of Food Services Marc Sullivan said that switching from eternal Styrofoam to the Tater-Ware and Ecotainers has been a combined group effort and said he was inspired to call the first batch of these containers by Environmental Studies Professor Adam Green and The Center for Sustainability.

While the new materials cost about three times as Styrofoam and paper products, Sullivan said he believes that as the demand for these products increases, the supply will follow.

"The price is expected to drop over time," Sullivan said.

Like the name suggests, the Tater-Ware coffee lids are made from potatoes. The lids, as well as the Ecotainer coffee cups, are petroleum-free, and can break down over time in compost piles.

Skogberg said City College is now part of a city-wide pilot program for composting food scraps, joining local businesses such as Sojourner Café and The Santa Barbara Zoo.

Food scraps from the JSB Cafe, Cafeteria, and Culinary Program are tossed in yellow bins instead of trash bins and are then picked up and disposed at the Engle and Gray Composting Facility in Santa Maria.

"Around 20 percent of the waste on campus is from food scraps alone," said Green, who developed the Center of Sustainability last year.

But because the change is so fresh, these containers aren't the finalized products the college will use.

Sullivan said he is always testing new products and is working to find a cup that can be used for both hot and cold beverages. The current Ecotainer coffee cup lacks an exterior coating that causes the cup to weaken when used for cold liquids, he said.

"We will find the ultimate cup," Sullivan said. "City College will not go back to Styrofoam."

Green stands by the alternative of using the environmentally-frienly Styrofoam replacements on campus, but he said that people should know when to use the Ecotainers.

"The best thing to do is not take a to-go container," Green said. "If you're eating in the cafeteria, get a plate."

Skogberg said that these biodegradable containers are supposed to be tossed in trash and not in recycling bins because the cornstarch oils in the materials will contaminate recycling.