Zanna Anderson
Science Editor
Founded by Cheryl Schnitzer, chemistry professor and chair of the Environmental Stewardship Council at Stonehill College, Reuzzi is a woman-owned online service that aims to bring sustainability to colleges’ and universities’ to-go container systems. Reuzzi creates a sense of accountability by implementing a reward system for the return of a school’s reusable containers.
Alongside to-go boxes, reusable mugs have made their comeback this fall after being gone since fall 2022. The reusable cups are insulated and provide students with a 25 cent discount on the drink of their choice when they check one out. The service acts as a to-go container library, keeping track of who has checked out what to-go item box, how long they have had it and how many containers a student has checked out. Since the introduction of Reuzzi, Campus Dining has seen a 96% return rate for all reusable containers.
When students return a to-go container, they may notice a message with a dancing bear relaying how many points they have received. According to Marjorie Shamp, director of campus dining, a student receives 15 points if they return a to-go container within two days, which decreases to five points after two days then to zero points after a month. When a student receives 500 points, they can redeem their prize with the help of a Lowry staff member at the registers and be entered into the monthly raffle to win items such as free bagels, drinks and more. Marjorie Shamp has also released tentative plans to hold a higher stakes raffle on a semester basis with the students who did not win the monthly raffles.
The Reuzzi initiative is a new step towards reducing single-use disposables across campus that came into existence because students failed to return over 3000 to-go boxes to Campus Dining during the 2023-2024 academic year. This waste contributed to over 731 pounds of plastic that now deteriorates in landfills and poison our ecosystem. According to Marjorie Shamp, Reuzzi is important because it “really prevents a lot of disposables from going to the landfill” and thus reduces the amount of plastic polluting Wooster. “Can you imagine how [many] carbon emissions, pollution, and microplastics are being generated — all while causing increasing and intensifying extreme weather events and endangering public health — only to make plastic items used only once?” said Sammy Amier ’26, peer educator intern for Wooster’s Office of Sustainability. According to Amier, the environmental damage caused by these microplastics is largely irreversible. Many of them have already contaminated sources of nutrition for local wildlife and moved up the food chain in a process known as biomagnification.
To reduce the College’s environmental damage, Director of Campus Sustainability, Brian Webb and his team began working to eliminate the College’s use of single-use cutlery and cups as much as possible, replacing them with wooden cutlery and collaborating with Campus Dining, bringing back the reusable mug program. “I was studying sustainability in Australia last fall and did a social change workshop where I had to create a campaign,” said Kenzie Morris ’24, an intern in the Office of Sustainability. “[That’s] where I fleshed out the plan to eliminate single-use plastic from The College of Wooster campus.”
“We know this will be a big change for some people, as plastics have become so ingrained in our everyday lives, but [we want people to] please think of the bigger picture and don’t underestimate how much a single person can have an impact and create change,” Morris said.
Mother Earth is not the only fan of Reuzzi. Many Wooster students have welcomed the program with open arms — not just for the raffle prizes. These students enjoy the opportunity to be more sustainable in their day-to-day lives. Alex Markland ’26 “like[s] using the Reuzzi cups because it’s an easy way to help make campus more sustainable.”
Students value feeling like their actions have positive, observable consequences on the environment and with Reuzzi, they feel that sustainability is more accessible than ever. Kiera McGuire ’27, a member of Webb’s Green Scot program, highlighted the importance of student involvement in this sustainability approach. McGuire hopes that “pro-environmental behavior on campus will translate to pro-environmental behavior off campus.”
The Office of Sustainability and Campus Dining staff worked tirelessly over the summer to prepare for the launch of Reuzzi by placing stickers on all of the to-go containers, setting up new receptacles for reusable mug returns and learning how to use the new system. Marjorie Shamp has also distributed countless resources regarding Reuzzi and made herself available to any students who have questions. Thanks to everyone involved in the initiative the Voice feels that Reuzzi has been a success –– not just for Campus Dining — but for anyone who values our planet.