CAS Commits to Sustainability

SWITCH TO PRIME VENDOR AND ELIMINATION OF THE WAREHOUSE

In Fall 2009, Campus Auxiliary Services switched to a prime source vendor for its operations.  Previously, CAS had purchased food products from several vendors who all delivered to the central warehouse on campus.  Dining units would then order food from the warehouse, who would ship to the dining locations every day.  Now, we have one prime vendor who delivers food products to each dining center directly three times a week.  This greatly reduces the amount of trucks being brought onto campus and the amount of miles that CAS vehicles were traveling from the warehouse to each dining center every day.  In addition, the prime source vendor is often able to deliver using a biodiesel truck.

In addition to the amount of gas being saved, there are large environmental savings being realized by closing down the warehouse.  The warehouse had consisted of one large walk in cooler with 11,488 cubic feet of space and 2 large walk in freezers with a combined 15,456 cubic feet of space.  In addition to the energy required to keep these large coolers and freezers at the appropriate temperatures, they are run by water cooled compressors.  A half inch pipe carries water around the compressor to keep it from overheating.  The water that flows through these pipes then goes down a drain.  It is the equivalent of letting your faucet run 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  These coolers and freezers used to operate year round but now have been shut down and are no longer operated.

REUSABLE MUG DISCOUNT

Starting in the Fall of 2008, the discount for using a reusable mug was increased to $.25.

Anytime a customer uses any reusable mug in any of the dining centers, they receive a $.25 discount on their beverage.  To promote the reusable mug program, CAS gives each member of the incoming freshmen class a free reusable mug at the beginning of the fall semester.  We have also listed a “mug price” next to the regular beverage price on all beverage signage to further communicate the financial savings to the customer of using a reusable mug.

TRAYLESS DINING

In the Fall of 2008, Red Jacket Dining Center, one of our All-You-Care-To-Eat dining centers, went “trayless” to reduce food waste and to save water and chemicals.  All of the trays were removed from the dining center and are no longer available to customers.  Customers may go back to the counter and are still allowed as much food as they would like.  Using data collected during the spring of 2008, it was determined that the switch to trayless dining has reduced food waste by 40.14%

The data was collected by performing waste weighs.  during the waste weighs, food scraps that were brought to the dishroom by customers were collected and sorted.  All edible food waste was collected and weighed at the end of the night.

INCLUDING SUSTAINABILITY FACTORS INTO DINING SERVICES OPERATING AUDIT

Dining Services has included sustainability factors into its weekly operating audit.  This audit is performed in each dining center and ensures that operating standards are being met.  Tying in sustainability to the operating audit helps to hardwire sustainable practices into our everyday routine and to ensure that sustainable practices are being followed.  It also ensures that equipment is being kept properly maintained so that water and energy is not being wasted.

Items being included in the operating audit are:

-- Checking to make sure that cooler and freezer doors seal tightly and that they are shut properly when not being used

-- Checking that faucets are turned off tightly when not in use and do not drip when they are shut off

-- Checking that lights are turned off in rooms that are not being used

--Checking that there are no recyclable materials in the garbage

--Checking that all empty food containers are completely emptied to avoid food waste

The environmental savings for this recommendation are:

--Preventing one leaky faucet that produces 60 drips per minute will save 5 gallons of water a day, or 2, 082 gallons in a year.

--The energy savings of turning off a single 60-Watt incandescent light bulb for one hour is .06 kWh.

--The environmental savings for ensuring that the cooler and freezer doors seal tightly and that they are shut properly is difficult to quantify.

By including checks in the operating audit that pertain to sustainability, we send a message to all of our employees about the importance and permanence of sustainability.  This helps to create accountability for following sustainability measures and reinforces sustainability as a part of our culture.