Bring Your Own “Biner”

A few little while back (pre-COVID) I visited Dartmouth…anyone who’s talked to me since then knows I’m more than a little obsessed.

All I’m going to say is their library cafe’s scones are out of this world and they have their own ski slope. (Somewhat) more importantly, however, like Penn, Dartmouth has a complicated relationship with fossil fuels and commitment to sustainable practice.

I did notice that, in so many small ways, Dartmouth was better about committing to a green lifestyle (fitting for a school known as “Big Green.”) One of the most effective ones was their “Green to Go” plan. At some point in your time at Penn, you’ve probably gotten a dining hall reusable to-go boxes. “Green to Go” functions similarly.

In order to keep an efficient and orderly system, Dartmouth students are given a green carabiner like the one pictured above. Every time they get a to-go box, they hand in their carabiner and when they return the to-go box to any dining hall, they get a carabiner back. It’s such a simple yet effective method that, in my opinion, Penn could easily implement at our dining halls. Think about all the plastic waste that comes from McClelland to-go boxes that could so easily be reduced if Penn chose to invest in several thousand carabiners for all students on a dining plan and perhaps a couple hundred more to-go boxes.

As a large institution, we have to consider our environmental footprint. Even the smallest changes in our systems can have a major impact, so as we look for ways to make our campus greener, I strongly suggest that this should be one of them. 

Cover Photo from Here