Letter: Eating with plastic is marring our environment

I find a very nice visit from Ireland to this university is marred by having to drink out of plastic cups, and eat off plastic plates, at the University canteens. I feel frustrated, awed and scandalized by turns. I feel frustrated when I'm trying to cut a crusty pizza with squishy, yucky little plastic knives and forks. I am awed at the fantastic amounts of trash produced (How many students are there in the United States?) that will remain in landfills for hundreds of years before decomposing. Finally, I'm scandalized that universities should lead the field when it comes to trash production. Is it really necessary to use all this disposable stuff?

I understand that using real knives, real cups and real plates and employing staff to load and unload washing machines may involve some extra cost. But consider the benefits: less pollution in the manufacture of plastic cups etc., smaller trash mountains, more employment in the canteens.

Meanwhile I find myself in an interesting situation here. As a member of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, I am helping to save the Earth, but every time I go to the canteen, I help bury the Earth under a mountain of plastic!