Boston College Dining Services has been trying to do its part to lessen the negative impact their services have on the environment.
Students may have noticed new to-go containers made of molded fiber that have replaced last year's large plastic to-go containers. Since so much food leaves the dining halls, BC Dining wanted to come up with a "green" alternative to the plastic container. The new containers are better for the environment, as well as more heat retentive. Because the new containers are more expensive than the old ones, BC Dining has implemented wrapping stations so students can cover their food without the extra expense of plastic lids.
The reason for this change and many of Dining's initiatives to promote sustainability comes from the quantity of waste produced. The large amount of garbage dining was producing needed to be reduced while the amount of recycled materials needed to increase. "Everyone in the food service industry realizes that food service is a big consumer of water and energy and a huge producer of trash," Helen Wechsler, director of BC Dining, said. "We're always looking for ways to make things better." This included the implementation of composting, getting rid of styrofoam plates and cutlery, purchasing large bowls for the salad bar and pasta station, discontinuing the use of ketchup and mustard packets, and giving students reusable shopping bags at the farmers market.
Although a lot of Dining's efforts can be been seen by students, there are more still that advocate sustainability behind-the-scenes. For many years, Dining has reduced its tonnage by using can compacters, cardboard bundlers and bailers, composting 85 to 95 tons of food per month, purchasing Energy Star-rated products, and replacing two dishwashers, reducing the amount of water used by 50 percent.
Dining has also focused its efforts on working with local companies for the distribution and purchase of food in order to lower carbon emissions and support local food producers from the New Jersey area and points north. BC Dining currently purchases some of their food from many local companies such as Sid Wainer & Sons from New Bedford, Mass., North Coast Seafood from Boston, and Cost Fruit & Produce from Chelsea, Mass.
There are several problems, however, that make the year-round purchase of food difficult. First, the local climate does not allow for the growing of all fruits and vegetables year-round, so by November, only about one-third of produce sold in dining halls will be local. The volume in which Dining needs to purchase food also puts a lot of restrictions on the amount of local food that can be purchased.
Students are also getting involved in trying to make BC Dining a greener. Megan O'Neill, associate director of restaurant operations, has worked with on-campus groups such as EcoPledge, Real Food at BC, and the Law Student Association (LSA) to help improve sustainability in the dining halls. LSA worked to establish a student sorting program and Real Food advocated for the purchasing of locally grown food.
The growth of student awareness and involvement with Dining in relation to sustainability has been encouraging. "We have a responsibility to do things even if students aren't banging down our doors to do it, but it's a great sign that more and more students want to be a part of making it better," Wechsler said.
Although Wechsler and O'Neill say that it's a bit too early for feedback concerning the new changes, they haven't gotten any complaints from students. "We haven't heard a lot of positive things but we haven't heard a lot of negative things either," O'Neill said.
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