I think a great way that this school could manage and lower the carbon footprint of the students could be to lower the amount of meat products offered in the dining halls. After learning that the amount of water and natural resources needed to produce meat products for people to consume is unbelievably high, I realized that cutting back on meat would make a very large impact on our environment. For this reason, I think the school would benefit from using $25,000 to offer more vegetarian options and perhaps some meals on some days without meat at all. The school could use the money to invest in other protein sources, such as tofu and bean products, so that students are still attaining protein in their diet, minus the environmental impact.
4 thoughts on “Green Fee Idea”
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I like this proposal, especially in light of the water and carbon footprints that come along with beef and other types of meat, I could see this being not only a widely accepted proposal in relation to sustainability but also in terms of social justice issues surrounding vegan and vegetarianism. Perhaps going one step further, this proposal may even include more gluten free options in dining halls on campus.
I like the idea of limiting the amount of meat products offered in our dining halls on campus. To be honest, most people don’t even eat the meat products that are offered (because they don’t look very good), so this would not be a hard change to adjust to. Also, making our campus more vegetarian friendly has a plethora of benefits for the individual student.
I think limited meat products is a good idea, because we know the carbon footprint of a simple thing such as a hamburger, but what your post made me also think of was the amount of food waste we have on campus. Not only should Union consider looking into limiting meat products, but looking into a way to reduce the total amount of food that is wasted at our dining halls everyday.
I think that your proposal makes a lot of sense given the incredible strain on our environment that the meat industry causes. I think that many students don’t even eat the meat offered at Union because of the low quality of the meat, and I would be interested to hear how much of the meat is actually thrown away. I think that investing in higher quality meat-free meals would be something that many students would support.