At the hospital I am interning at, I am eligible to eat $6.50 worth of food from the cafeteria for free. While this is quite a lovely thing for a perpetually pennyless student, I have run into some eco-moral problems. The food is served on styrofoam plates, or more popular, containers. Drinks are served in styrofoam cups, and the fruit salad comes in a plastic container. The thought of going through so much styrofoam and plastic made me cringe-- watching the garbage in the cafeteria fill up with everyone else's waste was bad enough. The first few times I ate in the cafeteria, I ate a salad off a styrofoam plate or got one of the plastic container fruit salads. However, a few weeks ago, I decided it wasn't worth the guilt I was feeling (and yes, I did feel very guilty). From there on out, I have only gotten whole fruits (apples, bananas and oranges) and coffee (in my own cup). I bring my own lunch from the leftovers of our dinners, or make peanut butter and jelly. I've felt a small weight lifted from my chest, and, to be quite honest, the food I bring tastes much, much better.
Sometimes I think about the waste I create each day and feel that there are always ways to make less. Even though we've cut our waste of yogurt containers by making our own yogurt from milk, there is still the milk container to think of. One of the things I would love to be able to purchase regularly is Ronnybrook Farms milk that comes in glass bottles-- only I haven't found a good place to purchase it, yet. Perhaps I will suggest the Park Slope Food Co-op carry it...
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I know what you mean. It can be such a pain in the arse. I was flying on a plane recently and got my knickers in a twist about getting a drink from a stupid plastic cup and eating pretzels and peanuts from individualy packed baggies. Fortunately it was only a two hour flight and I made it without consuming anything but its so hard to be prepared all the time. Why isn't the easy "go to" item something that will nourish my belly and my conscience. Why isn't the easy and lazy choice the right choice? bit by bit right? well my friend...keep enjoying those packed lunches and I cant wait to hear if you can get some shit changed at your co-op.
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