SUSTAINABLE SOURCING

Campus Dining makes a great effort to include locally sourced, sustainable, whole foods.

FREIGHT FARM

Stony Brook University has a hydroponic Freight Farm where student farmers can grow crops year-round in an indoor environment.

WASTE REDUCTION

In the U.S., we send 40% of all of the food we produce to landfills. Some people might dismiss this as naturally biodegradable. But in a landfill, the food degradation process forms methane, a greenhouse gas that’s around 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide!

COMPOSTING

A Cross-Campus Effort

Campus Dining collects the food scraps that FSA Volunteers load into the composter and track the progress. After 3 weeks, campus operations and maintenance unloads the compost to be cured and distributed in the landscaping and flower beds throughout campus.

REUSABLE CONTAINER PROGRAM

How it works in 3 easy steps:

1 - Bring your reusable container and let the cashier at East Side or West Side dine-in know you would like to use it for your takeout meal.

2 - Pay for your meal with a meal swipe, dining dollars, Wolfie Wallet or credit/debit card and leave your ID card with the cashier. 

3 - Fill the container with the foods you like and then return at the cashier station to pick up your ID card.

At your next visit, exchange your empty container for a clean one! Please empty and rinse your container prior to returning it. 

This is a pilot program for students who signed up to participate.

PLASTIC REDUCTION

CUTLERY - New biodegradable (PLA) cutlery has been added to SAC Food Court and Roth Food Court and will be included at other dining locations soon. PLA is a biodegradable material, derived from renewable starch resources, such as corn.

SANDWICH CONTAINERS - Plastic hero sandwich containers have been replaced with paper boats and paper liners at the convenience stores.

LIDS - Soup container plastic lids have been replaced with paper lids. Stir-fry to-go containers with plastic lids have been replaced with waxed-lined paper boxes.

CUPS - Smoothie cups are made from Greenware plant-based containers. The ecotainer coffee cups have lids made from pulp, which saves thousands of plastic coffee lids from the landfill. 

REUSABLE CUP PROGRAM RELAUNCH - Relaunch of a reusable cup program will save more than 175,000 disposable hot cups from the landfill in a six-month period and incentivize customers with a 10¢ discount on coffee refills.

STRAWS - Plastic straws have been eliminated from dining locations.

REUSABLE TOTE BAGS - In an effort to reduce plastic waste, Campus Dining no longer offers plastic bags at our convenience stores. Reusable tote bags are available for purchase at the East Side Dining Emporium and the Market at West Side. You can also bring your own reusable tote.