by Maddie Knopke

Op-doc is short for opinionated documentary, a concept identified by The New York Times editorial department. These short documentaries are produced in the first person to convey an idea or opinion of the filmmaker through their subjects. Each op-doc is accompanied by a filmmaker’s statement.

“11.” he responded.

Of the roughly 200 students who ate at Bistro Kids yesterday, only 11 of us used a plastic plate.

When Bistro Kids was introduced to STA in 2012 they offered only reusable plastic bowls and plates as well as reusable silverware. This was until our administration asked them to offer an option for students needing to take their food to-go, according to Max, the head Bistro Kids chef at STA.

About a month into their first year Bistro Kids started offering the disposable cardboard to-go containers. The containers were kept behind the counter which required students to request them if they were planning on taking their food to-go. This process lasted the entire 2012-2013 school year, but the number of students requesting the containers grew each week, Max explained.

“I try to do what you ladies like as much as possible,” Max said. “It became clear the reusable plates were going out of style, I guess, which is sad.”

This year, those disposable containers and also plastic utensils sit over the counter right next to the reusable plates and silverware.

The disposable containers and napkins are biodegradable according to Max, which means that over time they are able to break down and decompose into the earth. This is only possible, however, if they aren’t thrown into non-biodegradable plastic trash bags which are taken to sit in a landfill.

“Even if [Bistro Kids] put those biodegradable trash bags out for the biodegradable containers to be thrown away in, I don’t think that it would change,” Max said. “I think there’d still be the majority of the people who just walk to the trash can two feet away instead of the [biodegradable] ones we would put back here.”

Do you agree?

If you were given the opportunity to throw away these reusable containers into biodegradable trash bags, would you take the extra steps to do so?

It’s easy to answer yes when simply reading the question but when it comes time to actually doing it, most of us, myself included, would do what is most convenient. In fact, we already have.

Each day at lunch we are presented with a choice: plastic plate or cardboard container?

Since only 11 of us reached for the plastic plate that leaves roughly 189 of us who grabbed a disposable container. 189 pieces of cardboard that will now be sitting inside of trash bag in a landfill, but that’s only per day. Multiplied by five, that is 945 per school week and about 34,020 per school year.

We shouldn’t have to debate whether or not we would throw the disposable containers in the correct biodegradable trash bags if given the opportunity. We shouldn’t chose the disposable containers in the first place. The idea of doing what is convenient infects all of society. But, in one hundred years what’s really going to be convenient is when our ski slopes will just be landfills covered up with dirt and snow.

On the flip side, humanity continues to grow in our knowledge of the planet and how to better sustain it. One hundred years from now, the technology to improve our world will be extremely advanced. However, that won’t happen without anyone to make such technology and changes happen. So, if we are really aiming for convenience here why don’t we start taking better care of our earth now so that we don’t have a bigger mess to clean up later?