How USD can strive for a greener approach
The lack of sustainability of USD’s COVID-19 quarantine procedures
Maria Simpson / Asst. News Editor / The USD Vista
USD’s COVID-19 quarantine and isolation procedures have been in full swing since students arrived on campus last semester. Students who test positive or are contact traced are isolated in quarantine housing for 10 days and have all of their meals delivered, their laundry done, and their trash picked up at their door by staff members. The process is efficient, but sometimes efficiency comes with consequences, specifically environmental consequences. USD’s efficient quarantine practices have contributed huge amounts of waste and makes little effort to be sustainable.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture “in the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30-40 percent of the food supply” in 2010 which is “approximately 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food.” The USD quarantine routine has contributed its own abundance of food waste. Every day, students in isolation are given three large meals and a multitude of snacks and drinks. For many students, this is far more than they can eat, so leftovers quickly build up.
Most of the food items distributed come in plastic boxes and the meals are delivered in large paper bags. This presents a great opportunity for recycling, but the little recycling bins in the rooms are not large enough for all of the recyclable items. USD’s directions for quarantined students also never explicitly mention or encourage recycling.Quarantining students will have to continue for months to come, but environmentally friendly changes could be as simple as following the old adage, ‘reduce, reuse, and recycle.’
Reducing the waste would be difficult, but possible. A simple solution would be for students to fill out a form at the beginning of their isolation period, stating how much food they tend to consume on a regular basis. Staff would maintain the same packing process; the only difference is if a student chose to receive large or small meals.In a world without a pandemic, another solution could be to reuse leftover bottles of water and nonperishable food items such as chips that students have not opened. They could either be returned to the SLP or donated to a food bank, although COVID-19 guidelines may not permit this solution.
Finally, it would be easy to encourage students to recycle their empty water bottles, food containers, and paper bags. USD could also provide trash bags that are explicitly for recycling in order to accommodate more items. This waste issue poses a big problem, and it is not an easy one to fix. USD is doing everything they can to take care of these students, but they are also doing what is most convenient for the situation. This is a reflection of a larger problem of convenience and “throw away culture” that we see across our society today. It could be worth taking a less convenient option if it is healthier for the environment in the long run. USD has done work to become a greener campus in many ways. Hopefully the school will be able to embrace a few changes to make quarantine sustainable.
The views expressed in the editorial and op-ed sections are not necessarily those of The USD Vista staff, the University of San Diego, or its student body.