Dining Initiatives

Recycling Cardboard, Tin, Glass and Plastic

Sodexo, the University's Dining Services Provider, recycles the largest quantity of cardboard and tin on the University of Idaho campus. Sodexho recycles all glass and plastic in our resident dining location, Bob’s Place, located in the Wallace Residence Center.

Recycling Cooking Oil

All of used trans-fat-free cooking oil at Bob’s Place is recycled on a monthly basis through a contract with Baker Commodities, Inc. out of Spokane, Wash. Bob’s recycles approximately 6,000 gallons of this oil annually. Baker Commodities sells the used oil to customers to mix with their feed and fertilizer. Used oil at The Idaho Commons Food Court is picked up weekly by the engineering department. They use approximately 5% for various research projects through the engineering department and biodiesel program; the rest of the oil is privately reacted into biodiesel.

Recycling Paper Products

Retail dining units purchase plates, bowls and to-go containers from Excellent Packaging and Supply. EPS is a wholesale distributor company out of Richmond, California, that provides nature-based packaging for food service. They specialize in environmentally sustainable packaging, offering recyclable, compostable, and biodegradable product lines. In addition, Campus Dining provides a 100% recycled paper napkin by Earth Plus in all dining locations. Mobil Chemical, our primary contracted source for plastic can liners, uses from 30% to 90% recycled materials in their plastic liners. Paper is recycled in all Campus Dining Administrative offices.

The University's Starbucks coffee shops offer a cup made with 10% post-consumer fiber. Starbucks reports saving 100,000 trees annually with the PCF cups.

Recycling Computer Paper and Ink Cartridges

The Dining Services office staff recycles all paper waste and recycles all printer ink cartridges.

Composting

Campus Dining will be working with UI student, Owen Baughman, and other student volunteers in launching a coffee grounds composting program in Moscow. The volunteers will pick up the grounds on a daily basis or as needed from local businesses, and supply local gardens and the UI Soil Stewards organic farm. The farm is located within the UI Plant Science Research Farm established on the east edge of Moscow. The Soil Stewards farm has been certified organic by the State of Idaho.

Sustainability Mug Program

Campus Dining joined forces with the Sustainability Center to create a program to help reduce waste on campus. We now offer a sustainable mug program in all Campus Dining coffee shops. For $10.00 you can purchase a stainless steel mug, which includes your first beverage of choice, free. When you revisit any coffee shop with your mug you will receive a discount; save $.25 when you order an espresso beverage and drip coffee lovers will save $.10 per visit. We also encourage customers to bring in their own mugs and receive the same discount. We sold approximately 1180 mugs last year. The average American produces 3.5 pounds of garbage every day. This equates to 1,300 pounds of garbage per year for every man, woman, and child in the US. We are running out of places to put garbage; by joining our mug program you can make a difference, one cup at a time.

Paper Waste Prevention Program at Bob’s Place

Bob's Place located on the first floor of the Wallace Complex delivers a restaurant environment that offers diverse meal choices served from multiple food stations. It is our main dining facility on campus which offers an all-you-care-to-eat format. Bob's Place serves approximately 1,177 meals per day, which averages out to 429,666 meals per year. Meals are served on china; no paper products are used for meal service except biodegradable napkins.

Buying Local

Accomplishments:

• Partnership with UI Soil Stewards
• Develop relationships with Shepherd’s Grain farmers
• Enhance variety of menu items featuring fresher produce

Challenges:

• Produce availability is not always sufficient to meet the demands of the entire campus population
• Locally produced foods may cost as much as 20-40% more than nationally contracted pricing
• Produce often has a shorter shelf life
• Purchasing direct from local farmers increases liability risk under traditional delivery systems

Warewashing System

Spring semester 2008, Campus Dining changed campus-wide to a brand new warewashing system called Apex. Apex is an Ecolab system that combines new service reporting with new and improved products and state-of-the-art dispensing technology. With an optimized process we will use less water, less energy, and less labor – allowing us to both minimize our environmental impact while driving measurable savings to our operating costs at the same time. In addition, the Apex system further supports Campus Dining sustainability initiative with non-caustic chemistry and 95 percent less packaging material. Apex products come in a compact solid form that significantly reduces transportation shipments, compared to bulkier liquid detergents. The new product line also includes a low-temperature dish machine program called Apex TSC that has the same operational efficiency reporting capabilities. With the addition of a new solid dish machine EPA-registered sanitizer, the Apex TSC is the first all-solid, low-temperature dish machine program in the industry.

Fair Trade Coffee

All Campus Dining locations offer 100% Fair Trade coffee. Fair Trade is an alternative way of doing business that promotes equal, sustainable relationships between consumers and producers. This includes paying fair wages to farmers, engaging in environmentally sustainable practices, and promoting health working conditions. These trading practices are based on relationships of mutual respect. Starbucks is North America’s largest purchaser of Fair Trade coffee. Starbucks is committed to paying equitable prices for all of their coffee. They do this to ensure that farmers make a profit and to encourage future production of high quality coffee.

Catering at the University of Idaho

• Uses locally grown produce. This will vary by season. Regional produce is available all year long.
• Uses Fair Trade organic coffees and teas
• Pitchers of chilled water instead of plastic bottles, when applicable
• Use of reusable dishes, cutlery, and glasses/cups or biodegradable paper products
• No plastic coffee stirrers, straws, etc., unless prearranged by customer
• Cotton tablecloths, if table tops even need covering
• Either cotton napkins or 100% recycled paper napkins