Oxy Dining is committed to engaging in practices that reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
Reusable Dishware
- Reusable dishware, silverware, and cups are available for use in the Marketplace.
- The student-run Green Bean cafe offers reusable glass mugs for students getting their drinks "for here."
- Students may bring and fill their own reusable mugs and water bottles at any of the dining facilities.
Eco-Clamshell Program
- Students are able to use a reusable to-go box, known on campus as the eco-clamshell, instead of a disposable box.
- Learn more about the program through this video, filmed, directed, and edited by Media Arts and Culture major Angelina Lee '22.
Food Redistribution
- After food can no longer be reheated or served in the Marketplace, it is frozen until student volunteers from the Excess Food Recovery Team (EFRT) is able to pick it up and redistribute it to local community organizations. This not only reduces the amount of food wasted in the Marketplace, but combats food insecurity in Los Angeles.
- You can check out EFRT's donation tracking data here. Since its founding in Fall of 2017, EFRT has donated over 10,000 pounds of food. For more information or to get involved, check out @oxy_efrt on Instagram or contact the Program Coordinator Lena Sullivan at sullivanl@oxy.edu.
Food Scraps
- Twice per week, food scraps from the Marketplace are picked up by students from the Bruce Steele Garden and composted on-site. The finished compost is then cured and used as a soil ammendment in the garden beds.
- Additonal food scraps and other compostable products (such as paper napkins and plates) are picked up and processed by Universal Waste Systems through the city of LA.
Cooking Oil Recycling
- Campus Dining contracts with Baker Commodities to reduce the amount of frying oil used via filtration. Once the oil is unusable, Baker Commodities recycles the fryer waste oil into biodiesel and animal feed. According to their website, "rendering has the same effect on the environment as removing 12,263,316 cars worth of greenhouse gas emissions from the environment each year." Learn more about Baker Commodities here!
Disposables
- Oxy Dining makes efforts to reduce the amount of disposable packaging used on campus and switch to compostable options wherever possible. To support these efforts, please make sure to sort your waste correctly and use reusable alternatives when you can.
Zero Waste Working Group
In the spring of 2022, a subgroup of the Food Systems Working Group was formed in order to address waste issues on campus. Similarly to the FSWG, the Zero Waste Working Group is a collaboration betwen students, staff, and faculty that discusses issues and proposes solutions to issues regarding solid waste management. If you are a current student, staff member, or faculty member, join the group via this link!
Not sure what bin it's in? Check here: