Sustainability

Campus Initiatives

As a guest, it is easy to make smart environmental choices when you dine at a Sodexo café. 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 Sodexo chefs and managers do a lot of the work for you behind the scenes!

From purchasing local seasonal produce whenever possible to reducing inorganic and organic waste, your campus team is dedicated to providing you with an exceptional dining experience that is good for you and good for the planet.

A Better Tomorrow

This commitment was formalized with Sodexo's 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.

While your Sodexo team works hard behind the scenes, they also count on student engagement and enthusiasm to spread the word about what you're doing together on your campus. We encourage you to work with your local Sodexo management team to continue to innovate and improve sustainability efforts in your community.

If you have additional comments or questions, please contact us. We would love to hear from you.

Recycling

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

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.

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).

Biodiesel

French fries to fuel. Indeed, our fryer oil is recycled into biodiesel that is used to power a variety of vehicles - from delivery fleets to farm equipment.

Apex

APEX combines technology and products designed to save water and energy, minimize the impact of products on the environment, and has a built-in method of measuring results. The APEX management approach uses a tablet PC and wireless technology to communicate with the system’s controller to download, process and analyze data to establish each foodservice operation’s “rack-to-guest ratio.” By monitoring and improving this ratio, the system helps reduce the amount of water and energy used at each facility, and improve total operational efficiency.

China Dishes

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.