QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY PROVIDES FOOD FOR THOUGHT
By Jeff Drake
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The ‘green’ movement has taken root at Queen’s Hospitality Services. Just one of several departments at Queen’s University committed to creating a more sustainable campus, the Hospitality Services division is taking formidable steps to reduce its ecological footprint.
“Sustainability affects every aspect of what we do,” says Phil Sparks, Sodexo’s resident district manager of food services at Queen’s.
Queen’s Hospitality Services operates the dining halls on campus as well as most retail food outlets. It provides the university populace with more than 2.5 million dining experiences a year.
“The plates in the retail outlets are made from bamboo and sugarcane so they’re compostable,” notes Sparks. “We (also) use green cleaning systems in our kitchens and our coffee is fair trade.”
Additionally, Hospitality Services hands out free travel mugs to all residence students and has a discount program to encourage the use of reusable mugs.
Other sustainable initiatives include:
- Providing filtered water at all locations to reduce the use of plastic bottles.
- Purchasing local produce when seasonally available.
- Utilizing napkin dispensers to reduce paper waste.
- Donating leftover food to local shelters.
- Recycling paper, cardboard, cans, plastic, glass and vegetable oil.
Furthermore, Hospitality Services is testing out a new machine in Leonard Hall, which turns organic waste into compost.
However, this is not the first composting program undertaken; two years ago the university’s residences embarked on another pilot project.
Although “our organic waste (was being) collected in biodegradable bags and shipped away to be composted, we couldn’t find bags that fit our bins and (packaging needs),” explains Sparks. “So we approached a company and told them what we needed. (W. Ralston (Canada) Inc.) created bags to our dimensions and now it offers that product to all its customers.”
Even with all its current initiatives, Hospitality Services is continuing to investigate ways to ‘green’ its operations. It is currently looking at a range of new technologies, including lids and cutlery made from corn and potato starch and sugarcane-based product containers for hot food and beverages, such as soup and coffee.
Excerpted from an article previously published in the Queen’s Gazette.
