As mugs encrusted with food and week-old coffee continue to pile up in buildings across campus, leaders of the travel mug program decided to cease the use of collection bins in academic buildings on April 3. Students now have to drop their used mugs at Paresky Commons or the library. This change is intended to reinforce the idea of personal responsibility on campus, said Justin Wang ’13, co-founder of the travel mugs program, especially given the poor retention rate of mugs last term. Students often failed to return mugs to the collection bins at all, simply leaving them around campus, according to Christiana Nguyen ’13, another co-founder of the program. Cleanliness has been another ongoing problem with the mug program. Because students have been using mugs for food, e-leaders are concerned that foods like peanut butter and yogurt will cause allergic reactions, said Wang. As of now, the program is trying to regroup and generate feedback by attending student council meetings and talking to various teachers.
