By Eli Haims

Advanced Sculpture teacher Arthur Tobias noticed that he wasn’t being very eco-friendly when using the cafeteria’s disposable plates every day.

“I eat out of a paper or Styrofoam plate and it gets thrown away; it just doesn’t seem like a good idea,” he said.

He decided to use the pottery bowls and mugs that he has made over the years to eat his lunch. After eating, he returns to his studio and washes out his bowl before using it the next day.

Some teachers then became interested in Tobias’s pottery.”I guess some of the teachers saw my bowls; somebody asked for some, and somehow it got started and teachers started buying them,” he said.

He says that some days he sees a dozen faculty members using his artwork, and believes that he has sold between 15 and 20. Tobias enjoys being able to sell his pottery, as it makes room for him to make more.

French teacher Simona Ghirlanda, who generally eats with a reusable bowl and fork, says that the environmental factor of not throwing out paper and Styrofoam plates every day is very important to her.

Students also have begun to use reusable containers. Doyin Oyekan ’10, who brings her lunch from home, says, “I just find them easier and less wasteful.”