Kudos on the article on the health threats of polystyrene in the dining hall.

While I was glad to see this issue receiving more attention, I was upset by Miss Colonna’s remark regarding a lack of environmental groups taking on this issue.

The Committee for Preservation of Wildlife has had an anti-polystyrene campaign since 2003, and had addressed this issue with Dining Services as early as 1991.

We have met with the head of Dining Services, Ralph Chaplin, several times to urge the replacement of polystyrene take-out containers with biodegradable alternatives.

Our efforts have managed to get paper alternatives available in some dining halls. In the last two years, Mr. Chaplin allowed us to hang posters in several dining halls focusing on the environmental impacts of polystyrene and encouraging students to use their NIU travel mugs and other alternatives.

However, the issue at hand is that the costs of any take-out containers used at the university are taken on directly by the students. Because polystyrene is the cheapest option, this passes the lowest cost on to the students.

It is, therefore, up to the students to demand a safe, biodegradable alternative that may cost a few cents more but will have countless benefits. The Committee for the Preservation of Wildlife has formed a subcommittee dedicated to alternatives to polystyrene.

I urge interested students to join our Facebook group: NIU students for a polystyrene-free campus. At this Web site, students can find our past articles and letters to the editor regarding polystyrene, as well as links to Web sites with green alternatives.

I encourage all students to make their voices heard regarding not only the environment, but their own health.

Allison Sacerdote
Graduate research assistant
Department of Biological Sciences

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