Southern Sustainable
We recognize and understand the role that we play as an employer, service provider, and corporate citizen and the impact we can make on individuals, our communities, and the environment. Your Southern Dining Team is committed to providing a sustainable and environmentally conscious dining program. Rose Forrest, Sustainability Coordinator, leads the charge and helps guide our team to make conscious and sustainable decisions.
If you want to learn more about our sustainability efforts on campus, please don't hesitate to contact Rose at Rose.Forrest@sodexo.com.
WasteWatch REUSE is our resident dining takeout program. This program is designed to provide students with convenient to-go options in Connecticut Hall, while upholding the campus commitment to sustainability and waste reduction.
HOW IT WORKS:
1. Bring your reusable to go container with you to Connecticut Hall if you plan to take your meal to-go. You will not be allowed to take-out food without it!
2. Let the cashier know that you’d like your meal to-go.
3. The cashier will exchange your container for a new, cleaned and sanitized container.
4. Fill your container with your take-out meal and you are free to go!
5. Rinse your container, bring it back with you the next time you wish to take your meal to-go and repeat the process!
A $5 enrollment fee applies. Commuters, faculty & staff may also participate in this program. A $5 replacement fee will be charged for lost or damaged containers. If you have questions, please see a Campus Dining Manager or contact us via the feedback section of our website.
Learn more about the program!
Have you ever wondered where the food you leave on your plate in Conn Hall goes? We have been composting with Blue Earth Compost out of Hartford, CT since September 2017.
Once Blue Earth picks the waste up, it goes to Quantum Biopower, where it’s processed using Anaerobic Digestion technology to create biogas and compost. Biogas is used as a source of renewable energy to create electricity for the facility and the community. The compost is generally sold and is used as a fertilizer for gardens and plants.
We’ve composted 79,000 lbs of waste with Blue Earth Compost since the start of the 2021 – 2022 academic year! The mitigated CO2 emissions are equivalent to:
- 44.2K pounds of carbon dioxide- 2.26K gallons of gasoline burned
- 2.4M smartphones charged
- 332 seedlings planted
- 10.3K kWh energy created
- 50K miles driven by an average car
Learn more about the composting process on our Instagram @SCSUCampusDining
You can find plant-based meals all over campus including black bean burgers at the Student Center Food Court, a vegan station at Connecticut Hall, and avocado toast at Dunkin’. Be on the lookout for this plant-based symbol on the Everyday app and throughout Connecticut Hall.
Southern has been a part of the Food Recovery Network since 2017. Through this program, our dining services and the Office of Sustainability have saved over 6,000 lbs of food from the landfill and donated it to local non-profits during the fall of 2023!
Learn more about this program and how you can volunteer.
The Office of Sustainability grows tomatoes, squash, corn, eggplant, cucumbers, lettuce, kale, herbs, peppers, beets, raspberries, wildflowers, and more! We’ll use some of the fresh crops on our menus, and every year, they donate hundreds of pounds of the garden's fruits, vegetables, and herbs to local soup kitchens.
Learn more about the garden and how you can get your hands dirty!