Sustainability

Campus Dining is committed to the goals set by the University’s Climate Action Plan and Plastic Reduction Plan. Our department’s goal is to lower our environmental impact through ongoing efforts to conserve resources, employ green design, and employ eco-friendly strategies.

To this end, the purchasing unit has challenged our vendors to offer more sustainable products in order to enable us to serve our customers high-quality products while maintaining sustainability standards.

Here are some of the sustainability practices that Campus Dining currently has in place:

Campus Dining has partnered with OCRRA (Onondaga Country Resource Recovery Agency) to turn pre- and post-consumer food waste into organic compost. Some of the compost created from our program is used to fertilize gardens throughout the University.

In Fall 2024, Campus Dining entered into a partnership with Leanpath in an effort to drive down the amount of food waste at campus dining centers. Operating in over 50 countries, Leanpath's AI-enabled solutions identify root causes of food waste and change behaviors that lead to that waste. Since 2004, Leanpath and its food service partners have prevented over 100 million pounds of food from going to waste, an average of 50 percent reduction per kitchen. This semester, Leanpath will study food waste patterns at each dining center to gain a baseline understanding of how students utilize the sustainability centers in each location. Recommendations and action plans will follow in the semesters ahead.

The Food Recovery Network is a student-run organization that collects unused food from dining centers and delivers it to local non-profit agencies. The food provided helps the agencies reduce their food costs so they are able to use more funds towards their programming. The Food Recovery Network is a national organization with a dual mission of feeding people and reducing food waste.

Compostable cutlery, plates, straws, and cups are now being used for retail, catering, and dining centers (except at franchise locations, which are bound by contracts with national brands). For Fall 2024, Campus Dining has phased out pre-wrapped cutlery kits, which often produces excess waste. Compostable cutlery dispensers (like these) can now be found in all cafes, student centers, and dining centers on campus.

Campus Dining partners with EcoLab for eco-conscious cleaning products. The products are:

  • Biodegradable
  • Nontoxic to aquatic life
  • Concentrated, which leads to less waste
  • Low phosphorus

Campus Dining recognizes the positive ecological and economic impacts of purchasing food from local suppliers and farms, and therefore continues to expand its connections throughout Central New York.

Using a refillable water bottle or coffee mug helps reduce our carbon footprint by eliminating waste that may end up in landfills.

University cafes offer a high-quality, reuseable insulated mug available for purchase to become Mug Club member. Benefits include a 20% discount on a regular coffee or tea each time you use the mug. In addition, Mug Club users will receive one free regular coffee or tea fill-up on Fridays. If you would like to use your own mug in our cafes, the size should be 20 oz or smaller. You will receive a 10% discount when using your own insulated mug.

In dining centers, students are encouraged to use their own water bottles to take a beverage to go. Water refill stations are also available throughout campus and in residence halls. Each student on a meal plan can also utilize a reusable to-go container that can be returned to the dining center, cleaned, and put back into use.

Soda fountains have been removed at the JMA Wireless Dome. This will help our green initiatives by reducing 55,000 disposable cups, lids, and straws annually.

Syracuse University is working toward the elimination of all single-use plastics on campus. Beginning in Fall 2024, there are several steps campus dining centers are taking to meet these goals. Single-use plastic cups will be phased out and students will be encouraged to utilize their own wide-mouth mugs or bottles if they would like to take a beverage to go.

Single-serve dairy/dairy alternative items, like yogurt or ice cream, have been phased out. These products are still available, but yogurt is now served buffet-style, thanks to a partnership with Chobani yogurt, and ice cream can now be scooped out of large cartons, reducing plastic waste.

Individually-packaged coffee creamers (and other similar products) have been replaced by large-volume dispensers.

New York State has begun transitioning away from natural gas-powered appliances. Campus Dining renovations are making the same transition. Whenever a dining area is renovated or new equipment is installed, electric equipment replaces old, natural-gas powered appliances.

Campus Dining has worked hard to add more plant-based proteins to its menu, featuring Beyond Meat products in particular.  Every entree station features a plant-based or vegan option.

Student Involvement

Students are an integral part of our sustainability.  By using the Sustainability Centers in our dining centers, you are helping Syracuse University reach our sustainability goals. Here is how it works:

Future Planning

Looking to the near future, Campus Dining continues to work towards more sustainable practices.

  • A plate study will be conducted to analyze the amount of food diners are putting on their plates. The information from the study will provide guidance on how diners can reduce waste by taking smaller portions and returning for more as needed.
  • Our executive chefs are designing a menu that will produce less waste, which includes adding more plant-based foods to our menu. Plant-based foods take less resources to cultivate than meat products.
  • Menu planning and purchasing will continue to evolve. The goal is to plan meals that will generate less pre- and post-consumer waste.
  • New energy-efficient equipment will be installed as current equipment ages and needs to be replaced.