Brophy replaced traditional plastic with bioplastics on January 3, 2024. Mr. Cooper Davis ’10, Brophy’s sustainability coordinator, said the shift is part of the school’s opposition to single-use plastics.
Traditional plastic takes decades to centuries to decompose, according to a 2021 article by Elise Phillips in the American Society for Microbiology. Biodegradable plastic, by contrast, can break down in a home compost within 12 to 24 months.
Davis said the change addresses a mindset he calls “disposable culture.” Where society treats durable goods as throwaway items.
This difference matters because most plastic waste ends up in landfills, where it lives for centuries, creating long-term environmental consequences. The consequences are landfill buildup, environmental damage (including ocean pollution and microplastics), and added climate impact.
The switch affected multiple items in the Corral: containers for hot entrees, cups, lids, straws, and utensils.
Davis explained the core issue: plastics are durable enough to last 5,000 years but cheap enough that society uses them for five minutes. “It might be cheap for the producer to make a plastic cup, but it’s not cheap at all when you think about the long-term consequences of that plastic cup,” Davis said.
The cost extends beyond production to include environmental damage, ocean pollution, and the accumulation of microplastics in ecosystems and human bodies, a reality that most plastic never actually gets recycled.
Davis said Americans were told what he calls a “myth of recycling.” Plastic companies marketed their products as recyclable even though “it’s never been technologically feasible,” Davis said.
The strategy worked: Americans accepted disposable plastics, believing they would be recycled. According to 2018 EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) data, only 8.7% of plastics generated in the United States were recycled, while 75.5% ended up in landfills.
The remaining plastic was either combusted for energy or managed through other disposal methods, leaving most plastic waste in the environment for centuries.
Kingsley Chan ’28 said plastics are essential to modern life. “Without them, society would not function.” He supports Brophy’s use of compostables but is unsure whether alternatives can fully replace plastics.
“Right now, there are no other alternatives,” Chan said. Kingsley said that if changes were to be made, then they would have to be changes that could be made immediately, not something that is implemented over long periods of time.
“We should be cherishing our possessions, not using them quickly,” Davis said, reflecting a growing awareness at Brophy that disposable culture—whether plastic, paper, or any material—isn’t sustainable.
