Sustainability

As a guest, it is easy to make smart environmental choices when you dine at any of our DeSales Dining locations. We know today's college students want to do the right thing for the planet and we also understand you lead busy lives, so our chefs and managers do a lot of the work for you behind the scenes!

From purchasing local seasonal produce whenever possible to reducing inorganic and organic waste, your campus team is dedicated to providing you with an exceptional dining experience that is good for you and good for the planet.

This commitment was formalized with Sodexo's Better Tomorrow Plan and with the university's Green Committee. The Better Tomorrow Plan includes 18 commitments for a brighter future by focusing on four key priorities: health, planet, community and our people. Learn more about the Better Tomorrow Commitments.

While your DeSales Dining team works hard behind the scenes, they also count on student engagement and enthusiasm to spread the word about what you're doing together on your campus. We encourage you to work with your dining management team to continue to innovate and improve sustainability efforts in your community.

Our Initiatives

Recycling
Cans, bottles, cardboard, aluminum, plastics and other recyclables are always recycled at our locations across campus with designated receptacles available for customers to properly dispose their recyclables into.

Eco-Container Program
Fighting waste. Feeding people. The Eco-Container program gives students, faculty and staff the opportunity of reducing their waste by using a reusable plastic to-go container. For a small fee of $20, users will be enrolled in the program that will grant them access to a reusable to-go container any time they order food to go that then are to be returned to an eco-container drop-off location. If DeSales Dining receives 75% of the distributed containers back at the end of the academic year, all program participants will receive a full refund. Sign up at any of the DeSales' University Center Food Court registers.

Xpressnap
Xpressnap Dispensers save energy and waste. The napkins are made of 100% recycled paper and the dispenser will encourage customers to take (and waste) fewer napkins. Energy is saved because less power is used to recycle paper products than to create them from virgin material.

EcoLab
All dishes in dining areas are washed with Eco-Friendly soap.

Eco-Friendly Aluminum Take-Out Container
All of our dining locations feature eco-friendly takeout containers for all food items, including soup. In conjunction with the university's mission to eliminate waste, we encourage customers to dine in, but we do offer eco-friendly takeout containers in different sizes.

Eco-Friendly Straws
We now offer 100% compostable Eco-Friendly Straws at the DUC Food Court location to help eliminate waste. A movement that has grown across the country, we at DeSales Dining join in on those efforts to help the nationwide effort eliminate waste of plastic and help the environment by encouraging the use of paper straws, which are proven to be a better option.

Fair Trade Coffee
We are introducing our new fair trade coffee brand in the DUC Food Court & Frankie's Market, Aspretto.

Digital Signage
In efforts to help eliminate waste across our dining locations, we have implemented digital menu boards in all our campus dining locations & baseball concessions stand. Having our menus be able to rotate on our TVs will eliminate paper waste for changing menus everyday.

DSU Coffee Club
In Fall 2022, we created a Coffee Club to help eliminate paper and plastic waste surrounding coffee cups & lids. Offering refill discounts and special pricing for those students, faculty & staff who bought in to the Coffee Club. If you are a regular coffee drinker, you can save upwards of $50 a semester on coffee and help us lower the amount of paper & plastic waste on campus.

Local Suppliers

Farmer’s Markets
Farmer's Markets bring the idea of local home for many of us. That is why we work closely with our local suppliers to feature locally grown products at campus Farmer's Markets. Last year we held 2 farmer’s markets featuring many local farmers, growers and suppliers.

Local Suppliers
We work closely with local produce distributors to maximize the fruits and vegetables purchased from local farms. We also purchase from local dairies, and participate in farm to school initiatives. Tracking local purchases helps us to meet our Better Tomorrow Plan commitment of 20% local purchase by 2020. We are proud to feature the following local suppliers: Common Market, Balford, B &M, and Pocono.

Sustainable Fish and Seafood
We are committed to serving sustainable seafood and fish. By 2015 100% of our fish and seafood will be sustainably certified by the Marine Stewardship Council or the Best Aquaculture Practices. We do not purchase any at risk species.