Campus Initiatives As a guest, it is easy to make smart environmental choices when you dine at a Sodexo café. We know today's college students want to do the right thing for the planet and we also understand you lead busy lives, so your Sodexo chefs and managers do a lot of the work for you behind the scenes! From purchasing local seasonal produce whenever possible to reducing inorganic and organic waste, your campus team is dedicated to providing you with an exceptional dining experience that is good for you and good for the planet.

On campus we recycle the following products: cardboard, glass, aluminum, paper, plastic. In addition to recycling, we also practice track our food waste through a system called LeanPath. This helps to reduce the amount of organic waste that enters our landfills. Additionally, Fullerton College Dining Services practices composting. Food waste in landfills creates methane, a greenhouse gas which is 21x more potent than CO2. (www.epa.gov) Our first priority is to reduce food waste. We compost food waste that is unavoidable which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and can also be used to amend soil thereby increasing drought tolerance, improving soil structure and health and reducing need for water and fertilizers.

We are a trayless campus. Customers without trays typically waste less food and beverages. It is also a healthier approach to eating, as we all know that at times our eyes are bigger than our stomach. Trayless dining also reduces the amount of water and detergents needed to wash trays - and saves energy too!

Individual packets of condiments are useful in some instances, but they result in extra waste. If you are dining on site or you can add the sauce to your item before you leave, please use the bulk dispensers to reduce our waste. The discovery of America itself is linked to Western civilization’s search for easier access to rare spices and herbs. Columbus was hoping to open trade routes for these substances when he blundered into the West Indies and the Age of Exploration unveiled the New World. You do not have to be explorer to enjoy the delights of fresh herbs. Our campus herb garden opens the door to a world of flavor in our very own "backyard."

Xprss Nap dispensers are another solution to reducing energy and waste. They use 30% less paper than traditional napkin dispensing mechanisms. The great thing about these dispensers is that they help the environment while helping to keep costs down. The napkins are made of 100% recycled paper and the dispenser will encourage customers to take (and waste) less napkins. Energy is saved because less power is used to recycle paper products than to create them from virgin materials.

We work closely with local produce distributors to maximize the fruits and vegetables purchased from local farms. We also purchase from local dairies and participate in farm to school initiatives. Tracking local purchases helps us to meet our Better Tomorrow Plan commitment of 20% local purchase by 2020. Furthermore, farmer's markets bring the idea of local home for many of us. That is why we work closely with our local suppliers to feature locally grown products at campus farmer's markets.

The windows in our dining room allow us to enjoy a tremendous amount of natural light while dining. Natural light not only provides a more comfortable environment, it also reduces our energy usage by allowing us to turn off lights. Where feasible we have replaced our incandescent bulbs with compact flourescent bulbs to reduce our energy consumption. To save energy, we only turn our equipment on when it is needed and turn it off as soon as we are done using it for the day. Furthermore, we work with our vendors, our catering staff and our campus facility services staff to make sure all vehicles are turned off while they are parked in our loading dock.