Plastic cups to be phased out of Buttery this summer

Almost 3,800 members of the college community voted in the poll

Pic Paul Sharp/SHARPPIX

Plastic cups will be phased out of the Buttery this summer after voters on a OneStepCloser.ie poll decided to prioritise their removal in response to a question on area of plastic removal should be tackled first.

The campaign asked voters to decide which of the following to prioritise as part of a two-year plan to phase out plastic containers and utensils on campus: a) elimination of plastic cups from the Buttery, b) replacing plastic straws at the Pavilion Bar with paper straws, and c) exchanging plastic disposable cutlery with compostable cutlery.

The campaign hopes to tackle options a and b as well, with the hope that they will be completed by Spetember 2018.

Almost “3,800 votes from the campus population and beyond” voted in the campaign, which ran in April, said Trinity’s Sustainability Advisor, Michele Hallahan in a press statement. 

Hallahan described Onestepcloser.ie, which was created by Trinity alumna Joanna Mulkeen as a “new way of empowering and getting direct feedback from students and staff”.

TCD Plastic Solutions launched a petition calling for the elimination of single-use plastics in November 2017. They presented a petition, with over 3,000 signatures, to Provost Patrick Prendergast during Green Week this February.