Dining and Culinary Services

• Dining and Culinary Services has worked steadily over the past few years to buy more locally grown foods and feature them in menus. Read more about that in this article on local food purchasing on campus by UW-Madison News.
• All vegetable food waste and paper products used in the preparation process of food served by Housing is composted.
• Food waste left on diners' trays when they are returned is composted by dining staff.
• A pilot program to compost consumer food waste within the residence halls was begun in spring 2010 in Cole Hall. The program is being continued in 2010-2011, coinciding with the first year of the GreenHouse residential learning community there. Composting bins have been installed in Chadbourne Hall, with Smith Hall to follow in the spring semester.
  The 2009-2010 program was a student initiative with the entire hall eventually participating. The student leader produced an educational slide show on composting which was shown during a series of floor meetings. Residents voluntarily complied with procedures to dispose of appropriate compostable waste brought into the hall. University Housing dining services and facilities staff devised a handling system for the compost, with a destination of the West Madison Agricultural Research Station.
  
  We Conserve of UW-Madison Facilities, Planning & Management has purchased a chipper/mulcher machine to take on more compost volume as post-consumer composting is implemented in more residence halls and other campus buildings.
• Offer reusable Eco Take-out containers for purchase of carry-out food. The container can be returned to a cashier's station and redeemed for an Eco Token to use for future food purchases to go. Customers who purchase Eco Take-outs can redeem their container or Eco Token each semester for a full refund and a certifcate for a 12 inch pizza during a defined redemption period at the end of each semester.
• Promotion of refillable mugs for beverages and a price break for using this option.
• Promotion of insulated coffee sleeve for to-go cups. Purchase of coffee sleeve enables discount on future coffee and hot chocolate purchases.
• Allow carry-out of china; provide drop-off in residence halls.
• Provide disposable food carryout containers made with recyclable materials; no styrofoam containers are used.

Maintenance and Custodial

Residence Halls Facilities

• Use environmentally neutral chemicals for cleaning whenever possible.
• Use toilet paper, paper towels, and plastic bags made with recycled materials.
• Purchase carpet manufactured in a sustainable process when possible.
• Purchase furnishings manufactured locally when possible.
• Reuse furniture in Cole Hall according to student committee directive: upholster in Housing shop, saving 75% of cost of new furniture.
• Starting in 2012, all mattresses purchased will contain completely recyclable materials.

University Apartments

• Recent replacement purchase of carpet used a dye process using much less water than in typical carpeting manufacturing, resulting in 44,883 sq. yds. of carpet diverted from landfill and 2,087,360 gal. of water saved.
• Use natural salt for snow melt.
• Declare some grassy areas "low mow" (mowed one to two times per year) since 2007.