Sustainability

For Your Planet

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.

This commitment was formalized with Sodexo's Better Tomorrow Plan. The Better Tomorrow Plan includes 18 commitments for a brighter future by focusing on four key priorities: health, planet, community and our people. Learn more about the Better Tomorrow Commitments.

While your Sodexo team works hard behind the scenes, they also count on student engagement and enthusiasm to spread the word about what you're doing together on your campus. We encourage you to work with your local Sodexo management team to continue to innovate and improve sustainability efforts in your community.

If you have additional comments or questions, please contact us. We would love to hear from you.

Our Initiatives

Your Sodexo Campus Dining Team is dedicated to sustainability. We know we can all work together to make a positive impact right here at Illinois Wesleyan University. In addition to the many initiatives we take on as a company, we have implemented the following programs specific to Illinois Wesleyan University. One of our main goals is to provide a pleaseant, clean comfortable and satisfying dining experience while being conscious of our impact on the environment. Please consider how your dining routine effects the environment and consider our reusable and recycling options.

SMART

The Sustainability Management and Reporting Tool (SMART) is a comprehensive, yet easy to use dashboard that provides baseline sustainability performance, prioritizes initiatives, and tracks continuous improvement in four key areas - carbon and energy, water, waste, and healthy and sustainable food and environments.

Recycling

On campus we recycle the following products: cardboard, glass, aluminum, paper, plastic

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.

Trayless

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!.

Xprss Nap

Xprss Nap Dispensers save energy and waste. The napkins are made of 100% recycled paper and the dispenser will encourage customers to take (and waste) fewer napkins. Energy is saved because less power is used to recycle paper products than to create them from virgin material.

Apex

APEX combines technology and products designed to save water and energy, minimize the impact of products on the environment, and has a built-in method of measuring results. The APEX management approach uses a tablet PC and wireless technology to communicate with the system’s controller to download, process and analyze data to establish each foodservice operation’s “rack-to-guest ratio.” By monitoring and improving this ratio, the system helps reduce the amount of water and energy used at each facility, and improve total operational efficiency.

Bulk Condiments

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.

Reusable Dishware

We offer china dishes in our dining locations. This reduces waste associated with using disposable containers. Dining in? Be sure to use china. We also use china at our catered functions on site.

Local Suppliers

Sustainable Fish and Seafood
We are committed to serving sustainable seafood and fish. By 2015 100% of our fish and seafood will be sustainably certified by the Marine Stewardship Council or the Best Aquaculture Practices. We do not purchase any at risk species.
Local Dairy
All of our fluid milk is purchased from local dairies that do not use rBST.