The Action Steps in this section work toward the established Goals for the Food, Procurement, & Waste topic area:
Develop a set of Green Purchasing Guidelines and ensure at least 80% of campus purchase spending complies with them
Ensure that a minimum of 20% of food purchase spending in campus dining meet Bon Appetit standards for local food procurement
Ensure that a minimum of 5% of food purchase spending in campus dining are directly sourced from the Hudson Valley region
Reduce annual campus waste tonnage by 15% relative to 2005 baseline
Increase campus waste diversion rate (combined recycling and composting) to a minimum of 30%
Vassar will launch an informational campaign encouraging students to seek out menu options with plant forward, vegetarian, vegan, and locally sourced menu options. This will be supplemented by increased food procurement from within the Hudson Valley.
Description:
Bon Appetit and the Office of Sustainability will collaborate on an informational campaign encouraging students to seek out menu options with plant forward, vegetarian, vegan, and locally sourced menu options. This will be supplemented by increased food procurement from within the Hudson Valley.
CAP Goal Supported:
FPW-B (Local Food Procurement); FPW-C (Community-Based Dining)
Resources Required:
The majority of the resources needed for this Action Step come from staff and volunteer time to promote behavior change efforts. Some administrative staff time will also be required to identify and onboard new vendors when able potentially.
Analysis:
One of the most significant factors in an individual’s carbon footprint is their diet. A plant-forward diet can have less than half the environmental impact as one with heavy meat consumption. As campus dining works to make appetizing plant-forward dishes as a part of their total offerings, the Office of Sustainability and partnered groups can work to educate individuals on the benefits of moving toward a more sustainable diet. Growing consumer demand for more environmentally conscious diets can help individuals reduce their carbon footprint while also decreasing potential food waste from making these menu offerings available.
The Office of Sustainability will launch a campaign to focus on behavioral causes of food waste.
Description:
The Office of Sustainability, in coordination with Bon Appetit and student organizations, will launch a campaign to focus on behavioral causes of food waste. This campaign will require both peer-to-peer education from sustainability interns and engaged students and operational support to reduce food waste at Gordon Commons. Much of this work will dovetail with efforts to meet new legislative mandates for food waste reduction under the Food Waste and Food Donation Recycling Act, which takes effect in January 2022.
CAP Goal Supported:
FPW-D (Waste Tonnage Reduction); FPW-E (Waste Diversion Improvement)
Resources Required:
The majority of the resources needed for this Action Step come from staff and volunteer time to promote behavior change efforts. Minor financial support for equipment and signage may also be needed.
Analysis:
A series of waste audits in Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 showed that almost 60% of the waste Vassar landfilled last year alone could have been composted instead – as much as 800 tons based on 2019’s waste hauler data. Vassar must substantially reduce its total food waste to reach its goals.
This campaign will focus on three concepts: minimization, diversion, and contamination. Minimizing food waste through portion control and right-sized consumption will decrease the aggregate landfill, recycling, and composting tonnage. Proper diversion of compostable food waste from trash cans to front-of-house composting bins will decrease landfill tonnage. And reducing contamination from non-compostable waste in composting bins will prevent the unfortunate landfilling of otherwise compostable waste.
The Office of Sustainability and Facilities Operations will standardize signage for recycling across campus. The Office of Sustainability, partnered with current student organizations and Facilities Operations, will lead an aggressive campus-wide educational campaign to promote proper recycling practices.
Description:
The Office of Sustainability and Facilities Operations will standardize signage for recycling across campus. The Office of Sustainability, partnered with current student organizations and Facilities Operations, will lead an aggressive campus-wide educational campaign to promote proper recycling practices.
CAP Goal Supported:
FPW-D (Waste Tonnage Reduction); FPW-E (Waste Diversion Improvement)
Resources Required:
The majority of the resources needed for this Action Step come from staff and volunteer time to promote behavior change efforts. Minor financial support for equipment and signage may also be required.
Analysis:
Just as FPW-02 focuses on decreasing plate waste and contamination within Gordon Commons, this Action Step is focused on better promoting recycling and proper waste sorting across campus. In addition to signage, education and outreach efforts should include programming like a session during orientation, support for Sustainability Peer Educators, and a Green Event Certification program.
The Office of Sustainability, Purchasing, Facilities Operations, and other stakeholders will collaborate to consolidate and expand current procurement practices to develop Green Purchasing Guidelines for future procurement decisions.
Description:
The Office of Sustainability, Purchasing, Facilities Operations, and other stakeholders will collaborate to consolidate and expand current procurement practices to develop Green Purchasing Guidelines for future procurement decisions.
CAP Goal Supported:
FPW-A (Green Purchasing Guidelines)
Resources Required:
Limited staff time and labor from a Sustainability Intern for follow-up and research.
Analysis:
Vassar already uses socially conscious and environmentally friendly procurement in many areas of its operations. Developing Green Purchasing Guidelines will centralize existing information and practices for sustainable procurement while also providing the opportunity to research new products and solutions to enhance Vassar’s sustainability efforts.
Purchasing will work with Vassar’s current beverage vendor to pilot offering no plastic bottled beverages in vending machines in 2-3 high traffic areas to evaluate the feasibility of future plastic-free initiatives on the Vassar campus.
Description:
Purchasing will work with Vassar’s current beverage vendor to pilot offering no plastic bottled beverages in vending machines in 2-3 high traffic areas to evaluate the feasibility of future plastic-free initiatives on the Vassar campus.
CAP Goal Supported:
FPW-D (Waste Tonnage Reduction); FPW-E (Waste Diversion Improvement)
Resources Required:
Minimal staff time to implement the pilot and interpret results.
Analysis:
Even before the short-term return of single-use plastic water bottles to campus as part of Vassar’s interim dining operations, plastic beverage bottles were a substantial part of the total campus waste stream. As pandemic-induced health guidelines are relaxed in the coming years, decreasing the total consumption of plastic bottled beverages is one promising way to reduce the total campus waste stream.
Given concerns about consumer preference, availability of non-plastic alternatives for popular beverages, and overall programmatic needs for the College, this Action Step would begin with a pilot program in 1-2 high-traffic locations to determine suitability for possible future expansion.