Sustainability

Our Initiatives

As a guest, it is easy to make smart environmental choices when you come to the dining hall. We know today's college students want to do the right thing for the planet and we also understand you lead busy lives, so your Campus Dining chefs and managers do a lot of the work for you behind the scenes! This commitment was formalized with our Better Tomorrow Plan. The Better Tomorrow Plan includes 18 commitments for a brighter future by focusing on four key priorities: health, planet, community and our people. Learn more about the Better Tomorrow Commitments.

Xprss Nap

Xprss Nap Dispensers save energy and waste. The napkins are made of 100% recycled paper and the dispenser encourages our customers to take (and waste) fewer napkins. Energy is saved because less power is used to recycle paper products than to create them from virgin material.

Local Suppliers

We work closely with local produce distributors to maximize the fruits and vegetables purchased from local farms. We also purchase from local dairies, and participate in farm to school initiatives. Tracking local purchases helps us to meet our Better Tomorrow Plan commitment of 20% local purchase by 2020.

Recycling

On campus we recycle the following products: cardboard, glass, aluminum, paper, plastic.

Apex

As part of our ongoing effort to minimize our environmental impact, we use the Ecolab's APEX dishwashing system. By using less water, energy and labor, we are supporting our environment and sustainability initiatives.

Sustainable Seafood

One specific example of a healthy choice we provide that is good for both you and the planet is with the seafood offered on your campus. Your Dining Services team is committed to sourcing 100% of our contracted seafood from sustainable sources. We are working with our suppliers and distribution partners to phase out seafood that is not certified by either the Marine Stewardship Council or the Global Aquaculture Alliance's Best Aquaculture Practices Program. We are pleased that we were able to increase how much we spend on sustainable seafood significantly in both the United States and Canada.

Waste Reduction

Reducing organic and inorganic waste are other areas in which we are committed to working with our campus partners to make a real difference. University Dining Services utilizes reusable cups, plates, and utensils, train employees on waste reduction to reduce the amount of food, packaging, energy, and other resources that are wasted.

Weigh the Waste

Did you know that 40% of the food produced in our country is wasted? Periodically throughout the school year, we conduct a Weigh the Waste event. During the event, we weigh all of the uneaten food from guest’s plates. We consolidate the findings and report back to the community. We tie this to an awareness campaign that informs guests about food waste and its impact to our environment and our communities. We hold frequent campaigns in which we compare our results (and hopefully see our waste decline).

Trayless Dining

We are a trayless campus. Customers without trays typically waste less food and beverages. It is also a healthier approach to eating, as we all know that at times our eyes are bigger than our stomach. Trayless dining also reduces the amount of water and detergents needed to wash trays - and saves energy too!

Composting

Food waste in landfills creates methane, a greenhouse gas which is 21x more potent than CO2. (www.epa.gov) Our first priority is to reduce food waste. We compost food waste that is unavoidable which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and can also be used to amend soil thereby increasing drought tolerance, improving soil structure and health and reducing need for water and fertilizers.

LeanPath

Reducing waste is very important. It results in less food waste in landfills where it emits methane which is 21x more powerful than CO2. The LeanPath kitchen waste tracking system records and tracks all of the food waste from our kitchen. This helps us to identify and change practices which result in food waste. By tracking waste we inform our staff and focus our efforts. On average, Campus Dining Services has experienced a 40% decrease in kitchen food waste when the LeanPath system is in place.

Bulk Condiments

Individual packets of condiments are useful in some instances, but they result in extra waste. If you are dining on site or you can add the sauce to your item before you leave, please use the bulk dispensers to reduce our waste

Reuseable Dishware

We offer china dishes in our dining locations. This reduces waste associated with using disposable containers. Dining in? Be sure to use china. We also use china at our catered functions on site.

Green Cleaning

92% of the chemicals Dining Services uses are “Green Seal” certified, concentrated or sustainable.

Sustainable Catering

All it takes are a few simple steps to more sustainable catered events. We feature menus that are locally grown, seasonal, organic, vegetarian and/or well balanced. We use china serviceware whenever possible, but if necessary, we try to use compostable and/or recyclable disposableware. We strive to eliminate bottled beverages when possible by replacing them with pitchers of drinks and reusable glassware.

Local Dairy

All of our fluid milk is purchased from local dairies that do not use rBST.

Campus Garden

From field to fork without ever leaving campus. It doesn't get more local than food grown right here. We are proud to work with the campus community to grow and serve food from our campus garden.

Compostable Ware

For the past 5 years we have used compostable plates, cups and silverware for select catering events and all outdoor picnics and our late night breakfast preceding the start of semester finals. And we follow through and make sure that waste gets to a compost site.

Re-usable To-Go Containers

Sign up for our reusable container program. You can fill the container up with as mush food as you like and take it to go. Just bring the container back when you are ready, and we will give you a clean one to use again. Ask for details!

Aspretto Coffee

We are proud to feature 100% Transfair, Fair Trade USA certified aspretto coffee and 100% USDA certified organic and ethically sourced Numi teas. Everything that touches the product is green, from the 10% post-consumer fiber cups to the renewable resource stirrers to the fair trade sugar wrapped in recyclable paper and printed with vegetable dye.