What would it look like if we started over?

By now, most of us are somewhat aware of the effect our day-to-day lives have on the planet. From gas-guzzling SUVs to piles and piles of plastic packaging, it’s undeniable that we are exacerbating environmental issues on a massive scale. But do we do enough to minimize the harm we cause? Here at Syracuse, are we doing enough to combat the huge carbon footprint that we create as students, faculty and staff? “But it’s not that easy!” I hear you exclaim.

I have great news, Syracuse; you’re wrong. It just got that easy.

A friend of mine at Rutgers recently alerted me to the fact that their university dining services had partnered with an incredibly rapidly growing food technology start-up called Hampton Creek. What makes Hampton Creek different from other food companies is its complete dedication to providing delicious food products that are inherently more sustainable and healthier than their conventional counterparts. Take their “Just Cookies.” If every student at Syracuse ate one Just Cookie per year instead of a conventional cookie, this is the effect we’d have, as a campus:

– We’d have avoided eating 251,000 milligrams of cholesterol
– We’d have saved 580,000 quarts of water
– We’d have prevented 752,000 grams of carbon emissions
– We’d have saved 10,000 square feet of land

Needless to say, Rutgers has taken an incredible step forward in campus sustainability and student health. Hundreds of other schools have followed suit. Harvard, Yale, UConn, Berkeley — the list goes on. Why have we been left behind? Why don’t we have Hampton Creek’s “Just Cookies” or “Just Mayo” being served throughout our dining halls? By making such a small alteration in our food system, we can create enormous, positive change for the planet. To me, that’s a no-brainer.

What are we waiting for?

Daisy Gan, Illustration major
Syracuse University ’16

Published on October 26, 2015 at 10:40 pm