As Servo changed their meal option to be take-out, the negative impact from the single-use plastics increased greatly on the campus community.
As plastic waste is left out everywhere, its decomposing release is called microplastics which cause more harm than regular plastic. Microplastics are present in many plastic items we use on take-out meals.
We infer that the type of container used for meals was polypropylene (PP). A peer-reviewed study on the different types of plastics that are used for takeout describes that the proportion of flaking microplastics in PP was about 32 percent (Du et al. 2020).
Humans consume microplastics through take-out containers, table salt, tap water, and dust (Du et al. 2020). Yet it was also studied that a person may ingest from 12-203 microplastics in a week (Du et al. 2020).
If you do the math, that means students consumed thousands of microplastics over the last year due to the increased use of plastic containers on campus.
Sund said, “It was hard to see all of the bags and containers.” When asked about where she had envisioned all of the trash Sund said, “… in the ocean.”
As a consequence of the pandemic, carry-out/take-out became more popular to adhere to social restrictions. However, many restaurants were struggling when it came to choosing what containers were going to be utilized.
Some restaurants were implementing reusable containers such as Tavolino who claims they try to use microwaveable containers and dishwasher safe (Fredrich 2021). Trying to opt for a less plastic usage container can be costly due to the type of material used for containers.
Moreover, the environmental impacts for the containers are mostly in the places where the containers end up.
Not only are microplastics absorbed by the meal consumption from plastic containers but they are also leaching into the ground and the oceans.
A peer-reviewed study on the effect of microplastics says plastic can affect human health because of the toxins of the chemicals being absorbed by the environment. These microplastics and plastics can cause lung injuries, liver function changes, insulin resistance, development of offspring in the womb, reproductive system, and brain function (Karbalaei et al. 2018).
An additive called phthalate esters is used in plastic to enhance the flexibility and durability of plastic yet when they are exposed to human intake it can cause abnormal sexual development and even birth defects (Karbalaei et al. 2018). All of these adverse health effects are amplified by the increased volume of plastic provided by Servo.
It is not far off to make this assumption, however, the impact is much more local than you think. When we discuss all of this health in plastic pollution, it all stems from local sources. All of the trash we saw piled up in the trash bins could eventually leach into water supplies and other domestic resources. Not only harming the ecosystem around us but also our health. However, not all is bad as the campus has recently decided to revitalize sustainability efforts which were held back during the pandemic due to changes like Servo to-go.
References
Du, F., Cai, H., Zhang, Q., Chen, Q., & Shi, H. (2020). Microplastics in take-out food containers. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 399, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122969N.PAG
Fredrich, L. (1970, May 29). Let’s talk about the environmental impact of carry-out (it’s complicated). OnMilwaukee. https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/environmental-impact-of-carry-out.
Karbalaei, S., Hanachi, P., Walker, T.R. et al. Occurrence, sources, human health impacts and mitigation of microplastic pollution. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 36046–36063 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3508-7