UTD one step closer to banning single-use plastics

FATIMAH AZEEM Opinion Editor

The Sustainability Committee’s Single-Use Plastic Ban Proposal passed the Academic Senate and Staff Council, making UTD one step closer to being the first Texas university to ban non-essential plastics.

The proposal passed on Jan. 19 with support from the Sustainability Committee, Student Government, the Graduate Student Assembly and over 1,137 students who signed a plastic ban petition. It’s now en route to Auxiliary Services and then President Benson, and, if approved, would be the first of its kind in the UT System and across Texas.

“This Ban goes with the current process of UTD becoming more and more of a sustainability-centered university,” Sustainability Committee Head Dorothee Honhon said. “While we’re currently ranked Gold by [the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education], we still have one level above us – we can still do better. This is that next step.”