Sustainable Dining:
Dining Hall & Food Court
- Obtain sustainable local produce within a 250 mile radius from campus for all dining hall meals.
- Part of Aramark’s Blue Cleaning Program - disinfect with Electrically Activated Water in order to eliminate harsh chemicals, carbon footprint, allergic reactions, and environmental hazards.
- Hold meatless meals on certain Fridays each month.
- Distribute reusable water bottles and meal containers to all students.
- Installed water bottle refilling stations - so far, the 30 stations have saved over 30,000 water bottles each!
Bio Bin
- Campus dining has “Zero Waste” mission- all materials available are recyclable or compostable
- Catering services utilize fully-compostable plates and utensils
- Bi-weekly “Weigh the Waste” program - we openly separate student’s excess food into compostable or recyclable bins
- Contract with Aramark- “Green Thread” platform emphasizes and supports Green Fund’s sustainable efforts
- Green Fund sponsored the $20,000 creation of the Bio Bin.
Recycling:
- Implemented a uniform recycling and trash collection system campuswide in five phases:
- 1- campuswide color-coded recycling & trash stations.
- 2- recycling bins in all on campus residence rooms.
- 3- recycling bins in each individual office on campus.
- 4- color-coded trash bag system in order to improve the recovery of recycled materials from the housekeeping staff.
- 5- removal of trash/recycling containers from individual classrooms to place an emphasis on the importance of utilizing the centralized hallway system.
Additional Recycling Programs
- Battery Recycling Program
- Writing Instrument Recycling Program
- Ink/Toner Cartridge Recycling Program
- Lightbulb Recycling Program
- Hazardous Waste Recycling Program
- Biomass Recycling Program
Solar Panels:
- Project had an initial cost of $52,000 and will continue to be funded by Green Fund over the course of the next 3 years with an additional $60,000 investment.
- Currently the system is only located on top of Hagan Arena and has 45 panels, but is scaleable
- Green Fund is working with current donors in order to identify more funding in order to expand this project to other buildings on campus.