Environmental Stewardship

As part of BASC's overall sustainability plan that focuses on education, energy reduction, and waste minimization, Dining Services is committed to practicing environmental stewardship. Below is a listing of our current efforts:

Education

1. Campus Partnership -- BASC is a member of The College at Brockport Managing Environmental Safety and Health (MESH) committee, as well as the Sustainability Task Force sub-committee. As a member of these committees we work with other campus departments to seek ways to increase our sustainability and practice environmentally sound practices.
2. Participation in campus sustainability events to inform the community about our efforts and how each person can make a difference.
   1. Campus Sustainability Day
   2. America Recycles
   3. Recyclemania -- Get Caught Green Handed
   4. Earth Day
   5. Waste Weighs

Energy Reduction

1. All new energy-star vending machines were recently installed on campus.
2. The energy efficiency upgrades that were a part of the Harrison Dining Hall renovation result in $78K in cost avoidance per year.
3. PC monitors company-wide have been upgraded to the energy star flat panel monitors to reduce the effects on energy usage.
4. Used vegetable oil is sold to Buffalo Biodiesel Inc. who converts that oil to biodiesel. Harrison Dining Hall, Brockway Dining Hall and Union Square Food Court are equipped with the latest style of grease trap, where all the waste from the food preparation and ware washing areas run through this trap to reduce the impact on the public sewer system.
5. The removal of trays at Brockway Dining Hall has resulted in water and energy savings from not having to wash approximately 500 trays per meal.
6. Farm Fresh -- Dining Services is proud to support the Local Farming Community and encourage produce vendor, B. Giambrone & Co. Inc, to carry local products whenever possible. Each week Giambrone supplies a listing of local produce, the farm it's from, and the location of the farm. Dining Services in turn, communicates those local offerings to customers.
   
7. Local Purveyors
1. Byrne Dairy - All of the milk and ice cream consumed on campus comes from Byrne Dairy, a New York State company.
1. Petrillo's Bakery - A large amount of our bread products are supplied from this local Rochester bakery.
2. Java Junction Coffee Roasters & Bakery - We partner with Java Junction Coffee Roasters & Bakery, located on Main Street in Brockport. They sell regular and fair trade coffee. Their coffee can be found in two of our retail dining locations on campus - Jitterbugs Café and Aerie Café.
3. Bruegger's Bakery - Dining Services purchases bagels for our retail locations from the Henrietta Bruegger's Bakery.
4. Zweigle's Hots - Zweigle's Inc. is Rochester 's leading hot dog, sausage and deli manufacturer. It is also a family owned and operated business for five generations. We proudly serve Zweigle's hots in both dining hall locations.

Waste Minimization

1. Trays are no longer used at Brockway Dining Hall and smaller trays are used at Harrison Dining Hall to reduce the amount of customer food waste. As a result of these changes Harrison has been able to eliminate two of their six refuse pickups per week. Brockway Dining Hall is currently at two pickups per week.
2. In our dining halls, we serve individual portions and encourage students to take only what they know they can eat to help minimize food waste.
3. Plastic portion cups have been eliminated in the dining halls. Small washable dishes are used in their place.
4. Dispensers have replaced open containers of napkins in all dining locations on campus. Silverware dispensers are also in place in all retail dining locations. These changes help reduce waste as well as ensure sanitation.
5. China, Glass, and Silverware Recovery Program -- Dining Services collaborates with Residential Life and Learning Communities and Facilities and Planning to recover china, glass, and silverware students have taken from the dining halls. The cost of replacing these dishes is substantial. Containers are available in the dining halls and in all residence halls at the end of the school year for students to return any dishes, no questions asked
6. Second Harvest -- Dining Services works with St. Joe's in Rochester to donate leftover food and products for use at their food shelter.
   
7. Recycling
1. Blue containers are available in all dining locations for recycling paper, glass, plastic and metal.
2. Dining Services recycles returnable aluminum cans, corrugated cardboard, white office paper, metal cans, glass, light bulbs, rechargeable batteries, aerosol cans, and #1 and #2 plastics in all dining locations. We also recycle computers.
3. Refrigerants reclaimed & recycled - We recycle all refrigerants in all our dining refrigeration equipment.
   
8. Eco-friendly To-Go Containers
   1. Dining Services offers a Refillable Mug Program. This green initiative not only saves cups -- it saves you money, too! You save $.10 off the medium price with every fill. Click here for program guidelines.
   2. Dining Services has replaced all Styrofoam food containers with more eco-friendly products, many of which are made from 100% annually renewable resources such as corn. Examples of these products include: NatureWorks (PDF) and Greenware.
9. Compost Pilot -- Harrison Dining Hall has been working with the Grounds Department on campus to pilot incorporating food waste into their existing green compost program. Grounds has been picking up pre-consumer food waste (egg shells, coffee grounds, and fruit and vegetable scraps) and adding it to their leaf compost pile. This program will be regularly monitored to determine if it can be continued and/or expanded to other dining units.
   
10. Chemicals
    1. Chemical dispensers for dish machines and pot and pan washing were installed at Harrison Dining Hall during the recent renovation for the use of environmentally safe cleaning products. These products are provided by EcoLab, a worldwide leader in providing environmentally safe products while reducing waste, energy and practicing sustainable use of renewable resources.
    2. Dining Services recently started to use Ecolab's new warewashing system called Apex. Apex not only provides us with the ability to consume less phosphorus and plastic, but it also provides us the ability to better manage our consumption of water and electricity. In combination, the benefits of Apex will help us truly become more sustainable by lowering our total impact on the environment.
    3. Disposal of Chemicals - All old or unused chemicals are processed through the campus Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) department.