May 2—Students will continue to choose between paper or plastic next fall at Baylor University, in Waco, Texas, residential dining halls. Reusable plastic containers will be offered in fall 2013 despite students’ lack of interest in the program, said Brett Perlowski, director of dining services. Baylor Dining Services officials hope to create more interest in the program next year, he said.
“Our intent will be to try to rev it up again in the fall and give it another whirl,” Perlowski said. “It’s still a good program.”
Students seem to prefer the paper containers over the reusable to-go boxes, Perlowski said. The main issue with the reusable takeout containers is that people have to return the takeout boxes to the dining hall in order to get another container, he said. Students must rinse out the to-go box and bring it back to the dining hall. This could be inconvenient for some people. The dining halls then wash these plastic containers before they can be used again. Some campuses have drop off locations for the to-go containers that allow students to turn in their takeout boxes in areas besides the dining halls, he said. While nothing has been decided, this could be in the future for Baylor’s dining program, Perlowski said.