The Sodexo Team at Gonzaga believes sustainable practices are an important part of the dining program on campus. To learn more, please view our Sustainability Initiatives electronic document that contains information about specific initiatives on campus.
30 Ways In 30 Days
The Gonzaga Dining Team Planned 30 WAYS IN 30 DAYS to increase efforts and awareness relating to sustainability. Please click links below to learn more!
THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our ZAG PASS donation drive at the end of fall semester. Thanks to your generosity, we gave Gonzaga's Campus Kitchens enough resources to provide 670 meals to hungry people in our own neighborhood.
GO ZAGS!!
Local Sustainable Initiatives
We are always working on ways to increase our sustainability efforts. If you have ideas on things we can try, please contact Chuck Faulkinberry at charles.faulkinberry@sodexo.com.
Sodexo is dedicated to corporate citizenship and sustaining our planet. Our goals are to focus on the environment, economy and society as a whole through various efforts. We are working to make our campus dining and retail operations more earth-friendly.
We have implemented the following programs to improve your environment, economy and society:
Local Farms
We work hard to get as many ingredients locally as possible. Our professionally-trained chefs write our menus to take advantage of the fresh fruits and vegetables that are naturally in season in the Northwest. More information, including a map showing local farms where we buy things from, will be added to this site soon!
Reusable Cup Discount
The environment and your pocketbook win! Bring your own reusable cup to purchase coffee on campus and save 15 cents off every time in any location.
Biodiesel
More information coming soon on how the Sodexo dining team at GU helps turn used fryer oil into usable energy as biodiesel!
APEX™ Dishwashing System
As
part of its commitment to increase the sustainability of its operations,
Dining Services uses Ecolab’s Apex™ dishwashing system. 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. Apex
uses a unique combination of detergents, rinse additives, equipment and
consultative services to address the operational challenges in foodservice
operations. 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.
All locations will receive the benefits of using less water, energy and
labor, thus minimizing their operations’ overall impact on the environment.
In addition, the Apex system further supports Dining Services’ sustainability
initiatives with non-caustic chemistry and 95% less packaging material than
current methods. Apex products come in a compact solid form that significantly
reduces transportation shipments compared to bulkier liquid detergents.
Xpress Nap Holders
XPressnap dispensers are another solution to reducing energy and waste. They save 30% in paper over traditional napkin dispensing mechanisms. The great thing about these dispensers is that they help the environment while helping to keep costs down. The napkins are made of 100% recycled paper and the dispenser will encourage customers to take (and waste) less napkins. Energy is saved because less power is used to recycle paper products than to create them from virgin material.
According to Xpressnap, enough is saved through utilizing recycle napkins to power 600 American homes for an entire year! More than half a million gallons of oil was saved – 38 tanker trucks worth – and 41 tons of pollutants were kept out of the environment. 4,131 cubic yards of paper were diverted from landfill space. This is enough to cover an entire football field with a two and a half foot deep stack of paper.