Spring Break
Co-op bags the bags for charity
Kelly Sullivan
Issue date: 9/9/08 Section: News
Now in its fifth month, the co-op cares bag program, which donates 5 cents to one of four charities every time a co-op patron refuses a plastic bag, has raised a total of $1,140.98 between four charities, which means 22,819 plastic bags have gone unused according to a weekly tally. The program was introduced to UConn on Earth Day, April 22, with the goals of reducing the use of unnecessary bags while promoting environmental care.
The most popular charity to donate to is the UConn Green Fund which has made $478. This is equivalent to 9,560 bags which customers refused to use. The charity with the second most donations is the Carlee A. Wines Memorial Scholarship Fund, which has collected $288.65, meaning 5,773 bags went unused. SoundWaters has collected $227.60, saving 4,552 bags, and Joshua's Tract Conservation & Historic Trust has collected $146.73, which is 2,934 unused bags.
The charities were kept "close to home" said Marcia Firsick, the Co-op marketing coordinator who initiated the program. Two of the charities are directly related to the university; the Carlee A. Wines Memorial Scholarship Fund, created in memory of the UConn student killed in January 2007 in a hit-and-run, and the UConn Green Campus Fund, which promotes energy efficiency and works to reduce the university's ecological footprint, according to its Web site.
The other two charities support the environment in the Connecticut area. They are SoundWaters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental education and the preservation of the Long Island Sound, and Joshua's Tract Conservation & Historic Trust, another nonprofit organization which receives, purchases, and protects land considered important to preserve, according to their web site.
"Why harm the environment when we could donate to help it?" said Kyle Cole, a 3rd-semester chemistry and molecular and cell biology major.
While many customers seem to echo this sentiment, there are still many people who walk out of the Co-Op, bag in hand.
1st-semester sociology major Jamie Novak explained why she needs a plastic sack.
"My things…just didn't fit in my already full bag" she said.
However, just because you need a bag, doesn't mean you still can't donate. Customers have been dropping dollar bills and change into the charity boxes if they have to take a bag, so at least a donation is being made.
The program is designed similarly to a program recently initiated at New York University, though UConn's program varies slightly. NYU does not offers charities which customers can donate the cost of the bag to, and at UConn if a customer chooses to take a bag it will be made of recyclable material. UConn also offers its customers the opportunity to return any plastic bags they take from the Co-Op, so that the bags can be recycled.
The most popular charity to donate to is the UConn Green Fund which has made $478. This is equivalent to 9,560 bags which customers refused to use. The charity with the second most donations is the Carlee A. Wines Memorial Scholarship Fund, which has collected $288.65, meaning 5,773 bags went unused. SoundWaters has collected $227.60, saving 4,552 bags, and Joshua's Tract Conservation & Historic Trust has collected $146.73, which is 2,934 unused bags.
The charities were kept "close to home" said Marcia Firsick, the Co-op marketing coordinator who initiated the program. Two of the charities are directly related to the university; the Carlee A. Wines Memorial Scholarship Fund, created in memory of the UConn student killed in January 2007 in a hit-and-run, and the UConn Green Campus Fund, which promotes energy efficiency and works to reduce the university's ecological footprint, according to its Web site.
The other two charities support the environment in the Connecticut area. They are SoundWaters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental education and the preservation of the Long Island Sound, and Joshua's Tract Conservation & Historic Trust, another nonprofit organization which receives, purchases, and protects land considered important to preserve, according to their web site.
"Why harm the environment when we could donate to help it?" said Kyle Cole, a 3rd-semester chemistry and molecular and cell biology major.
While many customers seem to echo this sentiment, there are still many people who walk out of the Co-Op, bag in hand.
1st-semester sociology major Jamie Novak explained why she needs a plastic sack.
"My things…just didn't fit in my already full bag" she said.
However, just because you need a bag, doesn't mean you still can't donate. Customers have been dropping dollar bills and change into the charity boxes if they have to take a bag, so at least a donation is being made.
The program is designed similarly to a program recently initiated at New York University, though UConn's program varies slightly. NYU does not offers charities which customers can donate the cost of the bag to, and at UConn if a customer chooses to take a bag it will be made of recyclable material. UConn also offers its customers the opportunity to return any plastic bags they take from the Co-Op, so that the bags can be recycled.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Dan
posted 9/09/08 @ 11:08 PM EST
Does it it seem ironic to anyone else that the tokens we receive for "being green" are wooden?
Walter Rescorla '75
posted 9/10/08 @ 7:52 PM EST
I haven't been to Storrs in a few years so this may already exist but why doesn't the CO op create a green Co op bag. So many stores in the country sell green bags that are totally re usable and make a statement. (Continued…)
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