SMS
RSS feeds
Reddit
NewsvineIn January, Stanford was one of four universities nationwide to receive an A- in the first ever college sustainability report card released by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. Much of the report focused on the weaker areas of the University’s sustainability efforts, but the A given to Stanford’s initiatives in food and recycling was no great surprise — especially since sustainability has long been a core concern for the University’s dining services.
Enlarge
#gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/7025
Ayo Jimoh '06 grabs lunch from the Terman Engineering Building's Ciao! The restaurant began offering biodegradable service ware for an extra $.15 last November.
During a pre-dinner tour of Wilbur Dining Hall, Stanford Dining Executive Director Rafi Taherian said the commitment to sustainable dining came into clearer focus when the University began renovating its dining halls nearly a decade ago — before being “green” became popular, despite the economic incentives.
“There’s a myth out there that sustainable dining increases costs,” Taherian said. “It doesn’t. Sustainable measures are not cost-inhibitive, and they’re not difficult to implement. Eight or nine years ago, we looked at the design of our kitchens and concluded that they weren’t efficient, so we began to consider how to systematically change them to reflect a new way of thinking about dining.”
In the last 10 years, every on-campus dining hall save one has undergone major renovations, and the exception, Florence Moore Dining, is due for its own overhaul in the next couple of years.
A quick look around Wilbur Dining Hall, which was renovated six years ago, uncovers energy-reducing modifications and improvements at nearly every turn. High-efficiency infrared fryers have replaced conventional gas fryers, and huge kettles run on steam, eliminating both the cost of gas as well as its by-products.
Wilbur’s servery uses evaporative air-cooling instead of conventional air conditioning, and the extensive refrigeration mandated by county health standards has been centralized and computerized to cut down on the cost of electricity and refrigerants.
“People thought we were crazy when we redesigned these kitchens,” Taherian said. “Now it’s popular to be sustainable. But it’s also a good business model — sustainable dining ultimately reduces the costs of operation.”
Stanford was certified as a Santa Clara County Green Business in 2004 in recognition of its voluntary environmental responsibility. According to the Green Business Web site, participants in the program must comply with all applicable environmental regulations and “meet program standards for preserving resources, preventing pollution and minimizing waste.” In its efforts to do so, Stanford Dining also follows the “5R” recycling program of the on-campus Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc. (PSSI): reduce, reuse, recycled, buy recycled and rot.
“Being sustainable isn’t just about renewable resources,” Taherian said. “It requires the consideration of an efficient design and culture.”
These designs include labor-saving and trash-reducing initiatives as well — projects Taherian demonstrated by planting himself at one of the Wilbur kitchen’s hulking dishwashing stations. The towering metal structures allow dining employees to receive trays from the conveyer and sort the tableware without moving from their positions.
Since all dishes are ultimately sanitized, Taherian said, they are first processed in a system that uses recycled and recirculated water to rinse off the leftovers destined for the compost pile. None of the food served in Stanford dining halls is non-compostable, and the company that Stanford Dining has contracted to sell its compost to local farmers accepts all biodegradable waste, including table napkins.
Other biodegradables have proven trickier to integrate. Less than five years ago, green service ware was a risky proposition: not only was it more expensive, but the bottoms of plates and containers were prone to melting or falling out at the required high temperatures.
Although Stanford Catering currently offers biodegradable service ware as a no-additional-charge option and biodegradable containers for cold food are available at various dining halls, Lakeside’s Late Nite and Stern’s Cyber Cafe have yet to adopt biodegradable takeout containers. Current takeout containers are recyclable, however, and are made with recycled materials.
“In general, we follow the PSSI recommendation,” said Kate Roessler, project coordinator for Stanford Dining. “The immediate objective is to avoid contributing to landfills.”
Sustainability is a continuing process, Taherian said, and one continually being tweaked. Napkin holders, for example, must be placed strategically. According to Taherian, students used to grab handfuls of napkins on their way out of the servery, but napkin use has been “dramatically” reduced since the holders were relocated to the dining tables.
Although the College Sustainability Report Card claimed that 2 to 4 percent of Stanford Dining’s menu is from “local, organic sources,” officials said that percentage has increased since the report was published.
Next week, Stanford Dining will hold the “Eat Local Celebration,” a week-long event that will feature local farmers and student gardeners who will discuss how local food is yet another aspect of sustainability.
On the way out of the Wilbur Marketplace, Roessler pointed out that the table tents used to be refilled with new announcement fliers every few days. They are now replaced biweekly with a single sheet announcing several events — “To save paper,” Roessler said, “of course.”