SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE DINING CELEBRATES EARTH DAY
Dining Services Announces Support for Earth Day with Several
Environmentally-Responsible Programs

In honor of Earth Day, which was celebrated across the country on April 22, Springfield College Dining launched an awareness campaign, “Take Action,” which will included exciting programs and activities throughout the week of April 21-25 that supported ecology, conservation and sustainability. 

“We see Earth Day as an opportunity to partner with the College to help the campus community engage in socially-responsible activities that put into practice our shared commitment to the environment,” said Christine Catterton.  “Equally as important, this program will help increase students’ awareness of the environment and how their actions and decisions can impact our campus and beyond.”

The program will include recycling and conservation tips, information and other resources focused on the environment.  Springfield College Dining has partnered with the Student Environmental Club to help spread the word across campus and would like to thank them for all of their hard work.

Programs and events held in honor of Earth Week included:

Cell Phone, Battery & Toner Cartridge Collection – Cell phones are used by approximately half of the U.S. population. As new phones are introduced to the market, there is a growing need to address cell phone recycling and reuse opportunities. Springfield College Dining is making it easy for students to recycle their old cell phones, batteries and used printer toner cartridges.  Drop-off locations are in Woods Café and Cheney Hall (Judd Entrance).  Recycled cardboard boxes decorated with an Earth Day theme will be available for students to drop off items.

Bring your own travel mug and save – Purchase Java City Coffee at Woods Café, Locklin, Pride’s Den, and Allied Health.  Bring your own travel mug and your coffee refill is only $1.49.  That’s the same price as a small!  If you don’t have a travel mug, no worries.  Purchase a travel mug from Java City at Woods Café and your first cup of Coffee is free.

Ecological Footprint – Students found out if they were using more than their fair share of the earth’s resources.  Monday April 21^st in Cheney Hall, The Student Environmental Club ran a booth so that students can take the online quiz to find out.  “Monday went really well, a decent amount of people completed the quiz and thoroughly enjoyed it!” stated Lee Ann, President of the Student Environmental Club.

Earth Week Specials – Springfield College Dining conducted various culinary activities, such as special menu items each day and highlighting local items that are being served daily or incorporated in entrees all week long.  Cheney Hall served vegetarian dishes created from local produce, vegan desserts, local milk, and sustainable seafood.

Earth Day Specials – On Tuesday April 22nd, Earth Day, North Coast Seafood showcased local items by serving sustainable seafood dishes.  Each day following Cheney hall showcased different local seafood entrees.  Also on Tuesday April 22nd, Cheney Hall offered Fair Trade Coffee at the Java City Kiosk.

Dim the Lights Day – To create an impact and conserve energy, Springfield College Dining has dimmed the lights in Cheney Hall.  By turning off 18 lamps through out the dining hall, Dining Services were able to conserve 35,478 kilowatts of energy in one year.  Dining Services asked customers to join them on Friday April 25^th by turning off unneeded lights, using compact fluorescent light bulbs, or turning off and unplugging electronics when not in use.

At Springfield College, we have a deep respect for and commitment to protecting and improving the environment.  We work to reduce our environmental footprint while delivering exceptional operational results.  We also offer expertise and practical solutions to our customers to help them reduce their environmental impacts.  Throughout our corporation, we develop and implement long-term environmental stewardship programs and policies within the areas of sustainable food; responsible procurement; green buildings; energy and water conservation; and waste stream management.  We call these programs and policies Green Thread as they weave throughout our business operations every day!


                     Sustainable Food                      


At Springfield College, we understand the power and centrality of food in our daily lives and interactions, and recognize that our food choices have a significant impact on our health, culture, environment, and local and global economies.  We are committed to fostering new connections from field to fork and changing the culture of food by nourishing our guests with menus that emphasize fresh whole foods that are raised, grown, harvested and produced locally and/or sustainable wherever possible, and prepared in ways that respect and maintain quality, freshness and pureness.

Sustainable Seafood - ARAMARK partners with Monterey Bay Aquarium
Click Here for more information.

Sustainability doesn’t always have to come in the form of produce.  ARAMARK at Springfield College contributes to sustainability with dairy products as well.  Beginning Fall semester 2007 Cheney hall will be providing High Lawn Farm milk to our students and staff.  High Lawn Farm is located in Lee, Massachusetts where they strive to keep everything that they do simple and natural. Animal byproducts of any kind are not used in their feeds. And they do not use any rBST or artificial growth hormones to increase milk production. 
Click here for more information.

                     Green Buildings                      


Springfield College Dining Services understands that the built environment represents the largest consumer of precious natural resources, and their operation is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.  That is why we embrace the ideals, in concept and practice, of the design, construction and operation of high performance buildings.  We assure that the spaces we create and operate are increasingly environmentally friendly, energy efficient, and healthy for those who use them.

Cheney Hall turned off 18 lamps in the upper section reducing energy by 97 kilowatts per day.  That equals 35,478 kilowatts of saved energy in one year!

             Responsible Procurement              


At Springfield College, we consider the environmental impacts of our purchasing practices and how we operate our business every day. We seek to purchase and use environmentally preferable products and services, and recognize suppliers who reduce environmental impacts in their production and distribution systems or services. We partner with our suppliers, customers, and environmental experts to understand the impacts of available products and services on the environment and communities and to identify better solutions and alternatives. 

At Springfield College supporting our local farmers and the community is very important.  We have implemented a preferential purchasing system that identifies local produce items and the area from which it originated. We place preference on food grown within our area, state and then region of the country, in that order. Conventional produce from around the world will still be available when an item is not in season locally so you can continue to enjoy all of nature’s bounty. Produce that is locally grown is harvested closest to its peak for a fresher, more flavorful nutrient-filled result.  Buying local conserves energy and allows us to contribute to local farms and the economy.

              Waste Stream Management              


At Springfield College, we view the responsible management of waste as a requirement to sustain and restore our natural resources as well as the communities in which we serve. We are committed to minimizing our environmental footprint by fostering a culture that reduces, reuses, and recycles waste. To support a closed-loop waste management processes, our innovative practices include partnering with suppliers who share our vision, working to reduce source packaging, enabling recovery and reuse of discarded materials, composting food waste, and recycling waste to create raw materials for other purposes. We are always seeking new and innovative ways to minimize our environmental footprint.

Springfield College Dining Services recycles items such as aluminum cans, paper, glass jars, plastic bottles, cardboard, printer cartridges, to name a few.

Fall 2007 Cheney Hall implemented a composting program.  Cheney Hall now composts all food waste and used napkins that comes through the dish room.  The food waste is picked up by our trash hauler and brought to a composting facility where it is composted and provided to local farmers.  Springfield College Dining Services composts 8.66 tons of food waste each month.
 Click here for more information.

              Energy & Water Conservation             


At Springfield College, we understand that that the energy and water we consume are finite natural resources, and contributes to climate change, health & well being, and the environmental quality in the communities we serve.  We advocate and employ energy and water management efforts to reduce consumption, preserve scarce resources, and reduce our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and water shortages.  We advocate for renewable energy sources and water recapture to reduce our overall environmental footprint. 

ARAMARK purchases SCA Tissue recycled towels for all of our dispensers.  By purchasing SCA’s paper towel rolls ARAMARK at Springfield College has saved more than 15,040 gallons of water and more than 8,800 Kilowatts of energy in one year alone.  We have also conserved greater than 6.5 cubic yards of landfill space.  “Talk about a small change going a long way!”

Green operations in the dining hall include eliminating the use of trays and straws.  By removing the trays we are able to save over 668 gallons of water per day spent washing them.  That works out to over 149, 632 gallons of water per school year!  Not only can we save almost 150,000 gallons of water per year but we can significantly reduce the amount of chemicals we use to wash them as well.  Cheney hall can save over 13 gallons of chemicals per day or over 2,820 gallons of chemicals per school year.

“What about straws?”  A dining hall of equal size to ours creates over 450 pounds of trash from plastic drinking straws in one year.  Cheney doesn’t use straws!  This alone helps us save hundreds of pounds of waste each year.