Spring Break
CSU aims for eco-friendly dining hall
Shayna Grajo
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: News
CSU's Housing and Dining Department is looking to foster environmental stewardship and launch eco-friendly pilot programs with the opening of Ram's Horn, the Academic Village Dining Center.
The building is designed as a testing ground for green initiatives that could model the environmentally friendly practices of future residence halls and buildings campuswide.
"As an institution of higher education, I think it's our responsibility to be the leaders in living by good example and introducing environmentally-friendly methods in how we operate a university," said Deon Lategan, director of Residential Dining Services.
The dining center will open Mar. 24 will offer a variety of environmentally conscious dining options.
Ram's Horn will not offer Styrofoam to-go containers. Instead, students can select biodegradable and compostable to-go containers manufactured from sugarcane pulp.
"It's my goal to eliminate 100 percent of all plastics and polystyrenes," Lategan said.
Eco-Products, a Boulder-based company, will supply eco-friendly disposables such as cutlery and straws to both Ram's Horn and Lory Student Center Dining Services.
These disposables are manufactured from cornstarch or sugarcane pulp, both renewable resources. Residential Dining Services chose Eco-Products, Lategan said, for the company's environmentally friendly operation. Eco-Products uses solar energy for 85 percent of its operation, and the Eco-Products trucks are fueled by natural gas or bio-diesel.
Nancy Tuttle, who has worked for Housing and Dining over the past 20 years, said students will look forward to the new containers.
"The biggest complaint that I have as a meal-checker from the students is the Styrofoam option, because they want take-out," Tuttle said. "But they don't like the Styrofoam."
The switch from conventional disposals to sustainable counterparts, Lategan said, will occur at all residence halls. Ram's Horn will pilot the new line of greenware for the remainder of the semester, and all other dorms will transition this fall.
The building is designed as a testing ground for green initiatives that could model the environmentally friendly practices of future residence halls and buildings campuswide.
"As an institution of higher education, I think it's our responsibility to be the leaders in living by good example and introducing environmentally-friendly methods in how we operate a university," said Deon Lategan, director of Residential Dining Services.
The dining center will open Mar. 24 will offer a variety of environmentally conscious dining options.
Ram's Horn will not offer Styrofoam to-go containers. Instead, students can select biodegradable and compostable to-go containers manufactured from sugarcane pulp.
"It's my goal to eliminate 100 percent of all plastics and polystyrenes," Lategan said.
Eco-Products, a Boulder-based company, will supply eco-friendly disposables such as cutlery and straws to both Ram's Horn and Lory Student Center Dining Services.
These disposables are manufactured from cornstarch or sugarcane pulp, both renewable resources. Residential Dining Services chose Eco-Products, Lategan said, for the company's environmentally friendly operation. Eco-Products uses solar energy for 85 percent of its operation, and the Eco-Products trucks are fueled by natural gas or bio-diesel.
Nancy Tuttle, who has worked for Housing and Dining over the past 20 years, said students will look forward to the new containers.
"The biggest complaint that I have as a meal-checker from the students is the Styrofoam option, because they want take-out," Tuttle said. "But they don't like the Styrofoam."
The switch from conventional disposals to sustainable counterparts, Lategan said, will occur at all residence halls. Ram's Horn will pilot the new line of greenware for the remainder of the semester, and all other dorms will transition this fall.
Be the first to comment on this story