Environmental Action Committee Gives Out Sporks
By Tenley Nelson, Krish Patel and Hansi Zhu
The Environmental Action Committee launched the Exeter Sporks initiative in September to combat the rise in single-use plastic waste on campus due to pandemic regulations. According to Manager of Sustainability Warren Biggins, the initiative seeks to give every Exonian a reusable alternative to the single-use plastic utensil packets currently provided in the campus dining halls.
Senior Sadie DiCarlo started Exeter Sporks over the summer, after learning about the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on environmental conservation. “Normally, it’s nine million tons of plastic that leak into the ocean every year. And then, with the pandemic, the amount of single-use plastic has increased 300 percent,” she said. “This idea came to me just because it’s such a small thing. It felt like something that a lot of people could get behind, and it doesn’t make that much of a difference in people’s lives, but it makes a huge difference as far as pollution goes.”
In order to bring her idea to the Academy, DiCarlo reached out to Biggins and Sustainability Educator Coordinator and Science Instructor Andrew McTammany. Biggins was especially on board. “I love when a student takes the initiative to identify an issue on campus and propose a solution—and I thought it was really impressive that Sadie was conceiving this initiative over her summer break!” he said.
Biggins directed DiCarlo to the Cushing Family Environmental Government Fund, from which she received a $2,000 grant to buy sporks. Students will receive these sporks from their dorm heads throughout this month.
Looking forward, DiCarlo hopes that campus dining halls will ultimately eliminate the usage of single-use plastic utensils. “Someone [on the Environmental Action Committee] suggested just putting [plastic utensils] out of the way, and then hopefully if you have to go looking for them in the dining hall, you’re not going to use them as often. And then we’re also working on little signs to put out [that say,] ‘Do you really need this?’”
“I just want people to hear that they should use their spork. [It can] make a gigantic difference, but only if everyone’s doing it. It’s a really small thing, but we would eliminate 9000 single use plastic utensils from the dumpsters every day, which would be amazing,” she added.
As part of the first wave of students that received sporks, upper Nicole Craighead appreciated the effort to reduce single-use plastic at Exeter. “It was a good first step in making our community more sustainable because plastic utensils can’t be recycled, so in relation to the other disposable items in the cafeteria, [they’re] probably the least sustainable,” Craighead said.
Other students applauded the initiative not only for its positive impact on sustainability, but also for the convenience of owning a personal dining utensil. “Any time I wanted to eat [before Exeter Sporks], I had to go to the dining hall to get the disposable ones, and I had to open a new one every single time, so it’s actually really nice that we have these,” upper William Park said.
Prep Aria Scannell, who brought a reusable bamboo fork to use at dining halls prior to the launch of the initiative, added that she had noticed the issue of plastic waste early on during the year. “I didn’t know that we were going to do sporks then, and so I just felt kind of bad about all of the plastic, because [my mom and I] are both kind of self-conscious about the environment, and I just wanted to bring [the fork] in to try and replace it a little bit.”
McTammany reiterated the community’s role in making Exeter Sporks a success. “It highlights this idea of collective action,” he said. “[When] the school decides to do something collectively, you can actually have a larger impact you would as just an individual.”