We work together to continually develop and implement sustainable solutions. Through Green Thread, our environmental sustainability platform, we bring innovative and efficient solutions to life. We are passionately focused on reducing the environmental impact within our operations.
Here are just a few ways we work to make our campus more environmentally conscious:
Managing Sustainability
Trayless Dining
With trayless dining, UK Dining conserves energy and water, minimizes single-use plastic waste, and reduces the amount of cleaning chemicals entering the waste stream.
Food Recovery
Thanks to a strong partnership with Campus Kitchens at University of Kentucky (CKUK), a student-run organization that recovers leftover food that was not in service, UK Dining is able to provide food for meals that are given to individuals facing food insecurity or hunger.
Weekly tracking by UK Dining Sustainability determines the number of meals that are picked up and distributed in the community and works with catering to use the Meal Connect app for out of schedule pickups.
UK Dining Sustainability hosts Weigh the Waste events each semester to raise awareness about food waste and recovery. The events track student plate (post-consumer) waste during lunch hours in Fresh Food Company and Champions Kitchen to collect data and then create strategy for reducing food waste and raising awareness about consumption habits across campus.
Recycling
The fryer oil produced within Champions Kitchen is recovered by an organization that converts it into biodiesel.
Recycling bins are located in dining locations across campus. Look for signs from UK Recycling for information on where to put your recyclables.
Local Purchasing
UK Dining purchases almost $2 million annually of food from local farmers and businesses across the state of Kentucky. Look for the Local Impact logo around the dining hall to find ingredients purchased from Kentucky producers.
UK Dining is committed to increasing the amount of Kentucky Proud purchases year over year.
The map above shows the farms and distributors across Kentucky whose products end up on student’s plates in the dining halls!
Funding Growth
Green to Go Boxes
Champions Kitchen and Fresh Food Company offer Green to Go reusable containers for busy students and staff to carry out meals, while also reducing single-use plastic waste.
Reusable to-go boxes are offered for sale in residential dining locations for students and staff to purchase. Customers purchase for one-time cost of $5 and can use boxes to take food to-go from UK residential dining facilities. They can then return boxes after emptying any food waste and swap out for a clean one.
Food Recovery
Thanks to a strong partnership with Campus Kitchens at University of Kentucky (CKUK), a student-run organization that recovers leftover food that was not in service, UK Dining is able to provide food for meals that are given to individuals facing food insecurity or hunger.
Weekly tracking by UK Dining Sustainability determines the number of meals that are picked up and distributed in the community and works with catering to use the Meal Connect app for out of schedule pickups.
UK Dining Sustainability hosts Weigh the Waste events each semester to raise awareness about food waste and recovery. The events track student plate (post-consumer) waste during lunch hours in Fresh Food Company and Champions Kitchen to collect data and then create strategy for reducing food waste and raising awareness about consumption habits across campus.
