Green
Dining
Part of Residential Dining Services’ mission is to uphold our promise to be excellent social and environmental stewards by promoting the responsible use of resources. Several of those efforts include:
- Purchasing local and or third-party verified goods, such as certified organic, in dining centers, and marketplace & cafes as much as possible.
- Waste diversion is prioritized when it comes to food waste.
- The dining centers utilize pulpers,, and recycling processes when it comes to used cooking oil and food scraps.
- 93% of all food waste is diverted through composting and waste to energy programs.
- Trayless dining was also implemented in 2008 to reduce overall food waste and encourage students to take only what they need.
- Leftover food in the dining centers is donated to the Rams Against Hunger Food Pantry.
- Leftover food from Residential Dining Catered Events can be picked up by students and community members who subscribe to the Ram Food Recovery Program.
- All of the dining to-go products are 100% compostable including containers, drinkware, and cutlery, and students are encouraged to properly dispose of them in the compostable containers located in every residence hall lobby and outside waste stations.
- Check out how many of our greens are grown on campus below, along with many other initiatives in sustainability for dining.
Environmental Eats
- Environmental Eats takes place five times throughout the year in the Corbett Lobby Teaching Kitchen. The mission of this program is to promote more sustainable food choices and knowledge about where food originates and how small choices can have large impact to food systems.
- Held in the community kitchen in Corbett Hall, outside of The Foundry, Environmental Eats have attracted hundreds of residents to learn about sustainable dining, since its introduction in 2018. Different themes of this program include sustainable seafood, insect diet, food grown on-campus, honey, and blended mushroom burgers.
On-Campus Grown Greens
- Greens grown on campus from the Horticulture Center are served in the Dining Centers and are easy to identify by their “on campus grown” label.
- Since the partnership was formed in 2017, a total of 6,346 pounds of greens have been produced and served in the dining centers.
- This partnership operates as a living lab with a Horticulture student intern who manages practicum students who plants, harvest and manages the hydroponic system. The practicum has evolved into a for credit course with a faculty advisor from the Horticulture Center. The intern and faculty advisor provides hands-on experience to students, practicum grad students and volunteers throughout the year. The Sustainability Coordinator supervises the intern in Housing & Dining Services.
- The partnership continues to look for ways to incorporate new efforts in expanding campus grown food, new projects include growing tomatoes and herbs.
- Read the complete CSU SOURCE story here: Campus Grown Food Partnership
Eat Well
Items in the dining centers are tailored to fit every lifestyle. Dining Services is proud to provide options for customers with special dietary needs and provides vegetarian and vegan-friendly choices at each meal. For further details on nutritional information and eating well, please view the dining menus and the eat well blog eatwell.colostate.edu/
ReusePass
CSU ReusePass – Reusable Container Program
Reusable containers are a sustainable option in place of compostable to-go containers. Reduce your waste by ordering food through the ReusePass program, and returning containers at any drop-off locations around campus.
Students, faculty and staff can opt-in to the program at no cost by placing an order via the Grubhub app, for pick up at any participating dining locations. ReusePass reusable containers are available and required at several locations across our dining centers. Food orders are placed in the reusable containers to be picked up based on where you ordered. After use, the containers may be dropped off for cleaning at any designated drop boxes.
Participating Locations:
ReusePass Only
- Durrell – Plum Street Eatery
- Durrell – Baked, Fired, Toasted
- Ram’s Horn – Express
- Braiden – RamWich
ReusePass Optional
- Durrell – DC Grill
Opt-in to the program by ordering food through the Grubhub app. Keep track of your checked-out containers online at ReusePass, and return all containers at any of these drop-off locations, including most dining centers and residence hall lobbies. For additional frequently asked questions, please visit the FAQs page.
What’s Our Impact?
To date, since the launch of ReusePass in Spring 2023, users of the ReusePass program diverted:
- 147,779 single-use containers from landfill
- 10,882 pounds of waste
- 74,805 gallons of water
For more information on the program, contact Residential Dining Services or call (970) 491-4719.
