Mugs will use a carabiner system, just like reusable boxes
Maddi O’Neill
Editor in Chief
The reusable mug program will undergo changes to increase its popularity in the coming years, including the introduction of gold carabiners starting next year.
Mary Kate Norton ’19, the incoming vice president of Greenhouse, said the mug program is currently underutilized.
“Currently, many people do not take advantage of the reusable mug program because they don’t want to carry a dirty mug around until the next time they want coffee, or simply because they forget to bring their mug with them,” Norton said. “Greenhouse is working with SGA to make the program better and more accessible so that more people will use it.”
SGA At-Large Senator Annabelle Hopkins ’19 worked with Greenhouse to make the project a reality.
“The existing reusable mug program on campus is a great way to combat waste production, but we feel it isn’t being used to its full potential,” Hopkins said. “With this new project, students will not have to worry about having their reusable mugs on them at all times. Instead, students can go to purchase a beverage, trade in their gold carabiner, and receive a reusable mug.”
Norton said Greenhouse was interested in the project because of the amount of paper cup waste occurring on campus in spite of the existing reusable mug program.
“Currently, Wooster students, faculty and staff go through 1,500 cups every three days,” she said. “We hope that by making the reusable mug program easier, more people will use a reusable mug and we will significantly decrease the amount of disposable cups we waste.”
Both Norton and Hopkins hope that introducing carabiners will make the reusable mug program more popular, because students will no longer have to carry their mugs with them at all times.
Marjorie Shamp, director of campus dining and conference services, has also helped with making these changes and hopes they will increase students’ use of reusable mugs.
“Campus Dining still uses over 96,000 paper cups per school year,” Shamp said. “Student involvement in a renewed marketing and education campaign will help promote the program.”
Hopkins said the carabiners will be introduced in the fall.
“The cost of the initial shipment of gold carabiners will cost just over $1,000 and we will also need to purchase additional mug crates for storage and transportation,” Hopkins said. “We are seeking funding from Wooster’s sustainability committee, which has expressed a great deal of support and excitement for this project.”
Hopkins added that new mugs may be introduced in the near future.
“There will not be new mugs next year, but it is likely that we will have new mugs in two years, at which point I’d love to organize a committee to advocate for what types of mugs the students want to use,” she said.