20 different flavors: peanut butter banana, chocolate chip, red velvet cake, peach pie, fudge brownie, and 15 more. All lined up along a wall, just waiting to slide out into someone’s cup--just waiting to put a smile on someone’s face. But not before toppings: graham cracker crumbs, cookie dough, mochi balls, sprinkles, gummy bears, strawberries, kiwis, and almost everything else you can find in a candy store plus more. How could you not pile everything on? It’s a candy store, but better--you get frozen yogurt too. The sweet, creamy--and did I mention, low fat?--taste of frozen yogurt is sure to excite any set of tastebuds, and self-serve frozen yogurt shops are simultaneously driving and satisfying this new desire in our culture.

In 2013, frozen yogurt sales grew 74%--from $279 million in 2011 to $486 million. The recent boom in popularity of frozen yogurt due to its effective self-serve store set up and simple deliciousness is shown through these figures. The self-serve frozen yogurt shop is this generation’s new coffee shop. Who doesn’t love trying 20 different yogurt flavors and having the option of actually mixing all 20 of those flavors? Who doesn’t love piling on as many topping as they desire and making a seemingly infinite number of yogurt/topping combinations? Who doesn’t love having the power to serve themselves as much frozen yogurt as they want? It is really no wonder why frozen yogurt companies are doing so well--they are tailored to our culture.

As college students from Arizona, frozen yogurt shops are equivalent to paradise. It’s a hot August day at the beginning of the semester; as we walk down University, catching up with all of our friends after a long summer, Campus Candy--the local froyo shop--appears before us and we know we have to go in. Frozen yogurt is just perfect at this moment. We grab our cups, fill them up, load on the toppings, and pay before taking up a huge spoonful into our mouths. We love frozen yogurt and we know we will be here many more times throughout the school year.

It is only later that we become aware of the significant environmental impact we contribute to by purchasing something as seemingly innocent as frozen yogurt. Frozen yogurt cups are coated, like many paper plates, with either plastic or wax and therefore cannot be recycled. Even if this were not a factor, the cups would still be contaminated with yogurt residue and thus not be recyclable. The plastic spoons we use become contaminated and un-recyclable as well. Every time we purchase frozen yogurt, we are creating more trash for our landfills. Every time we purchase frozen yogurt, we are increasing Carbon emissions. Every time we purchase frozen yogurt, we are supporting an unsustainable future.

As college students who love frozen yogurt and who care about sustaining our Earth and our society for years to come, we are urging Yogurtland--the leader in the frozen-yogurt shop world--to design a reusable frozen yogurt cup using low-impact materials , much like a reusable coffee cup or grocery bag, for customers to use. We urge Yogurtland to be the example that other existing frozen yogurt companies follow and set the precedent for not only future frozen yogurt companies, but all food service companies, to engage in sustainable product design.