Waste Reduction
Reducing Waste on Campus
Waste Reduction is a primary initiative of UMass Dining Sustainability. For Food Waste, we follow the Environmental Protection Agency’s Food Waste Scale, which first prioritizes source reduction, followed by food donation, and composting methods.
For other materials, we are aligned with the campus wide waste reduction efforts to Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle framework, with the last resort being landfill. UMass Sustainability Waste Page
5 tips to reduce waste on campus:
1. Choose dine-in options: Choose a plate when eating-in at places like Blue Wall.
2. Reduce single-use waste by bringing a reusable coffee mug and water bottle: UMass has over 240 water refilling stations across campus, and you get $0.25 off your coffee when you bring a reusable mug to retail locations!
3. Be mindful of how much food you throw out: Locations like Blue Wall have small to-go containers available in case you don’t finish your plate.
4. Properly dispose of waste: Improper disposal can contaminate waste and recycling streams and reroute entire bins to the landfill. Learn more about proper disposal on campus here.
5. Donate items you want to get rid of: Donate to the Baystate Textile Boxes on campus, the UMass New2U program during move-out, or organizations like Goodwill, Salvation Army and other local thrift shops.
Strategies utilized by UMass Dining to Reduce Food Waste:
Source Reduction
- Menu Engineering
- Dining Common Design
- Just in Time Cooking
- Small Plate, Big Flavor
Food Donation
- UMass Food Recovery Network
100% Food Waste Composting
- Martin’s Farm in Greenfield, MA
- Vanguard Renewables Anaerobic Digestion at Barstow Farms in Hadley
Other Waste Reduction Initiatives
- Tray-less dining across campus
- Plastic bag ban at all our on-campus food locations
- Eliminated cans and bottles for Grab 'n' Go lunch, encouraging students to bring their own reusable bottle
- All napkins are made from 100% recycled fiber and are manufactured with a bleach-free process
- Retail Dining locations offer ceramic dishware to reduce single use compostable containers