Overview
Dickinson Culinary Services takes great pride in being a responsible member of the Dickinson College campus community and the community at large. Culinary Services works to be an industry trendsetter in environmental sustainability. Our continual process enhancements including local purchasing, fair trade purchasing, waste reduction, composting program, and lowered energy consumption align with Dickinson's overall sustainable message. Listed below are some of the advancements that have taken place since 2014.
- Eco-Containers are reusable alternatives for takeout containers in our dining locations.
Learn more about our sustainability practices here. - Since December 2018 straw usage has been eliminated from all dining operations and replaced with recyclable sip-through lids that have no more plastic than a traditional plastic lid for straws.
- We encourage all customers to bring their own clean reusable beverage containers to reduce paper and plastic waste plus anyone who places an online order for a specialty drink at our locations and has their own container receives an upgrade to their serving size.
- All packaging in retail locations is either recyclable or compostable.
- Culinary Services uses local vendors and reviews vendors for sustainable practices. Additional information can be found here.
- Catering eliminated plastic plates and now offers lightweight melamine or compostable paper products as inexpensive alternatives to regular china service.
- Reusable gloves have been implemented for cutting food during food preparation in the kitchen, and The Juice Bar has reduced disposable glove waste.
- The Dining Hall has been tray-less since 2009, which reduces water and chemicals used for cleaning while encouraging guests to consider their food selections rather than “fill the tray.”
- Dickinson Culinary Services has employed a Dickinson student as a Sustainability Intern on a semester-by-semester basis since 2014. Interns have documented food miles, and food sourcing, validated animal welfare programs, and helped to identify ways for Dickinson Culinary Services to improve its practices.
- Culinary Services has purchased four Rational SCC White Efficiency ovens. These ovens cook with an incredible reduction in energy needs. The ovens also reduced water needs by replacing less efficient steamers and ovens.
- All Culinary Services lighting in seating, serving, kitchen, and storage areas was converted to low-energy-use LEDs.
- Culinary Services’ 2015 dishwasher replacement uses less detergent and saves over 12,000 gallons of water each year compared to the old machine. The dishwasher uses an Energy Recovery Unit to capture heat from the exhausted steam and uses that heat to maintain high temperatures for the wash water with no additional energy consumption.
- All food waste and paper products are prepared for composting with a Hobart WastePro 1200 pulper, which grinds these items into composting-ready material by extracting water and reducing waste volume. The extracted water is then recycled within the pulper system, reducing water usage for the machine. Additional information about the composting program can be found here.