Make this Thanksgiving the Cleanest, Greenest Ever

By Liz Kennedy

Director of Ethical Labor and Sustainability at Trademarks & Licensing, ASUCLA

As we travel fewer miles from home this year to stay safe during the pandemic, Thanksgiving 2020 has the potential to be among the most sustainable holidays in years, seeing as transportation and fuel tops the list of pollution impacts. With that head start, let’s explore how we can make this Thanksgiving the most sustainable ever.

The good news is that most foods that are traditionally eaten during Thanksgiving have a comparatively low environmental footprint to other holidays. A serving of turkey generates less than one fifth as much carbon as beef. As for the fixins of beans, squash, and potatoes, these are all in-season vegetables that have low carbon footprints. 

The bad news is that food waste can erase these gains. Food waste is the second highest cause of greenhouse gas emissions next to air travel on Thanksgiving. Wasted food represents not only the money lost on cost of the food, but the waste of water, fuel, food, fertilizer, and other resources expended to grow or raise it. Some steps to take to cut down on food waste are:

  • Plan ahead. Create your shopping list early with your menu and number of guests* in mind.
  • Eat mindfully. Give thanks, slow it down and savor your delicious Thanksgiving meal.  You’ll most likely find that you’ve eaten less than you normally do.
  • Cut down on single use dinnerware, glasses, napkins, and serving ware, and use reusables.
  • If you do have food waste, don’t put it in the landfill trash where it will generate potent greenhouse gases—use a commercial food waste composting facility instead. Better yet, have guests* bring an empty container for leftovers.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, your family and loved ones, and with all of our efforts, our planet!

(For more information on how to reduce our home carbon footprint, here’s a quick guide.

*Within public health guidelines—the LA County Department of Public Health discourages any gathering of people from multiple households at this time.

Selling Food In Styrofoam

By Niklas van der Wagt

UCLA Carbon Neutrality Ambassadors

The intersection between the COVID-19 pandemic and sustainability is as interesting as it is complicated. One easily identifiable symptom of the pandemic is the decline of sit-in dining at restaurants and other locations, which has lead to increased popularity of pick up and fast food. Of course, this also means more single-use containers used for food.

Even before ‘COVID-19’ was a household term, UCLA was (and still is) committed to being an entirely styrofoam-free campus. Among materials commonly used for food packaging, styrofoam stands out thanks to its low weight, high efficiency, and the threats it poses to general health and the environment.

Many people seem to believe that styrofoam is not great for the environment, but nonetheless a step up from plastic. In reality, the opposite is true; styrofoam is not biodegradable and generally cannot be recycled. On the other hand, many plastics are recyclable.

Astute Bruins will notice that the food containers used at Rendezvous and other on-campus dining locations are not made of styrofoam, but of a more environmentally friendly, compostable material. By implementing strategies such as this one, UCLA hopes to be a styrofoam-free campus and contribute to the greater movement of sustainability. However, individual student choices are still the deciding factor for what comes in and out of the university. In early 2020, I helped out in a Powell trash sort, at which we did exactly what the name implies. After sorting through too many bags full of trash to count, I was surprised at the amount of single-use styrofoam and plastics we sorted. I was also surprised to find books, reusable water bottles, and a lot of puff bars, but that’s not the point.

Clearly, these single-use materials are coming from places outside of UCLA. While indulging in some delicious orange chicken served in a styrofoam box from Panda Express does not make you a bad person, gratuitous use of these harmful materials is a danger to public health and the environment. If you have the option (more often than not, we do!), try to avoid styrofoam and other single-use food containers.