Sustainability
CAS takes its responsibility to be good corporate citizens very seriously - so much so that "Community and Corporate Citizenship" is one of our 6 Company Pillars. The pillar states that CAS is committed to "illustrating in a planned and responsible fashion our commitment to the environment."
In addition to participating on the college's Sustainability Commission, CAS has created its own Sustainbility Committee devoted to implementing decisions made by the Commission and researching and presenting sustainability recommendations for CAS.
Below you will find a list of environmental initiatives implemented by CAS. If you have any suggestions or would like to become involved in the CAS Sustainability Committee, please contact us at cas@geneseo.edu.
Local Foods
Switch to Prime Vendor and Elimination of the Warehouse
High Efficiency Laundry Machines
Trayless Dining
Reusable Mug Program
Waste Vegetable Oil Recycling
Catering Recycling Program
Composting Culinary Support Center Food Waste
Napkin Dispensers
Elimination of Styrofoam
Local Foods
For the past several years, CAS has focused on increasing the amount of local foods served in the on-campus restaurants and cafes. We realize the economic impact that spending locally can have on the community as well as the flavor and nutritional benefits of eating local foods. Our produce is purchased from American Fruit and Vegetable, a produce distributor based out of Rochester. Working with the produce distributor, we have been able to increase the amount of local fruits and vegetables throughout campus. We also partner with Upstate Farms, a local dairy co-op, to supply all of our milk and most other dairy products as well as several other nonfarm vendors, including:
Barilla Pasta
Chobani Yogurt
The Basket Company
Vital Energy
Muesli Fusion
Zweigles Hot Dogs & Sausages
Father Sam's Wraps
Costanza's Bakery
Perry's Ice Cream
Karma Sauce
Sorrento Cheese
Rosina Meatballs
Monk's Bread (Abbey of the Genesee)
American Fruit & Vegetable
Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters
Livingston County Pizza Co. (Gluten Free Rolls)
Midstate Bakery
Upstate Farms Dairy Coop
Once Again Nut Butter
Red Osier Roast Beef
and more!
Switch to Prime Vendor and Elimination of the Warehouse
In the fall of 2009, CAS switched to a prime souce vendor for its operations. Previoiusly, CAS had purchased food products from several vendors who all delivered to the central warehouse on campus. On-campus restaurants would then order food from the warehouse which would ship to the restaurants every day. Now we have one prime vendor who delivers food products to each restaurant and cafe directly three times a week. This greatly reduces the amount of trucks being brought onto campus.
In addition to the amount of gas being saved, there were large environmental savings realized by closing down the warehouse. The warehouse had consisted of one large walk in cooler with 11,488 cubic feet of space and 2 large walk-in freezers with a combined 15,456 cubic feet of space. In addition to the amount of energy required to keep these large coolers and freezers at the appropriate temperatures, they were run by water cooled compressors. A half inch pipe carried water around the compressor to keep it from overheating and the water that flowed through these pipes went down a drain. It was the equivalent of letting your faucet run 24/7. These coolers and freezers used to operate year round but now have been shut down and are no longer needed.
High Efficiency Laundry Machines
Starting in Fall of 2007, the washers and dryers in residence halls and townhouses on campus were replaced with high efficiency front-loading washers and dryers that significantly reduced water and energy usage. By fall of 2009, the entire campus was equipped with the new machines.
As of May 2012, over 5,733,000 gallons of water have been saved due to the switch to the new machines.
In addition to the water being saved, the laundry machines also require significantly less detergent and remove excess water from the clothes, reducing the amount of time and energy needed to dry them.
Trayless Dining
In the Fall of 2008, Red Jacket Dining Center went "trayless" to reduce food waste and to save water and chemicals. All of the trays were removed from the restaurant and are no longer available to customers. Customers may go back to the counter and are still allowed as much food as they would like. Using data collected during the fall of 2008, it was determined that the switch to trayless dining has reduced food waste by 40.14%.
Reusable Mug Program
Anytime a customer uses any reusable mug in any of the on-camus restaurants or cafes, they receive a $.25 discount on their beverage.
Waste Vegetable Oil Recycling
Currently, all waste vegetable oil generated by the fryers on campus is collected and picked up by a company that recycles the product, keeping it out of the waste stream.
Catering Recycling Program
CAS has begun delivering recycling bins as a part of our catering setup for deliveries of canned soda or bottled water. Many of the conference rooms throughout campus do not have recycling containers, and we have found through observation that most of the cans at catering functions had been thrown out instead of recycled.
Composting Culinary Support Center Food Waste
CAS composts all food scraps from the Culinary Support Center that produces all of the grab and go salads and items throughout campus. The Refuse and Recycling team transports the food waste to the campus composting pile that facility services manages.
Napkin Dispensers
All on-campus restaurants and cafes utilize napkin dispensers placed on the tables rather than a central napkin dispenser. When napkins are placed in a central location, customers tend to take more than they need so that they do not have to get back up to get more. Tests in one location saw a decrease in napkin use by 54%.
Elimination of Styrofoam
CAS has eliminated the use of styrofoam cups and to go containers and has resolved to no longer use them.