Goal 4 - Adoption of Sustainable Lifestyles
The University considers the prudent expenditure of funds to be an important responsibility and reflective of the University’s mission and the Marianist values. The University is uniquely positioned to foster partnerships in the local and global community. Thus, the University views its purchasing decisions as opportunities to choose environmentally and socially preferable products and services, to support vendors with strong commitments to sustainability, to support the local economy, and to pursue the common good.
New construction and renovations built to LEED silver standards.
Sustainable Dining Practices - Local Food Sourcing: The University of Dayton created an urban community garden on campus. Food from this garden supports dining, catering, and the campus farmers market. The farmers market is a joint effort of Student Development, Dining, Facilities, and Human Resources. UD financially supports Mission of Mary Cooperative and Lincoln Hill Gardens, and the Dakota Center. MMC operates a CSA and Farmers Market in an underserved urban neighborhood in Dayton. The Dakota Center supports an urban garden in an underserved neighborhood and introduces youth to gardening and fresh produce.
Sustainable Dining Practices Ð Food Waste: The University of Dayton uses both pre-consumer and post-consumer compostable material. All pre-consumer food waste is sorted and collected at all three dining halls and from catering's kitchens on campus for composting. Post-consumer food waste is sorted and collected in the kitchens of all three dining halls on campus. Dining services has a slow-grind system and food waste goes to an industrial compost facility, with the end-product used as soil conditioner or mulch. In addition to food scraps, dining services have converted all disposable products used on campus to compostable alternatives. While washable china, flatware and cups are encouraged, they do offer disposable "take-out" containers, cups, and flatware, which are all compostable as an alternative to the reusable to-go containers. Initiating composting on our campus has reduced waste from dining units by over 90%. Dining services has a 3-trash system where compostable waste is sorted in the dish rooms and put into a compostable compactor unit for hauling to commercial composting facilities.
Sustainable Dining Practices Ð Oil Recycling: University of Dayton Dining recovers and recycles cooking oil through Restaurant Technologies Inc. (RTI). RTI picks up used cooking oil from Kennedy Union, VWK, Catering, and MC dining. They then work with other companies to recycle the oil or re-use the oil so that it is not going into landfills.
The International Sanitary Supply Association’s (ISSA) Cleaning Industry Management Standard for Green Buildings (CIMS-GB): UD's contracted service for all building cleaning and janitorial services is Alpha and Omega Building Services (Kettering, OH). This company has been certified with ISSA since 2012. UD's Director of Contracted Services attended the ISSA convention in Chicago that year, learned about the CIMS-GB certification, and followed-up by changing the practices of the contracted service provider at the University. The certification applies to all buildings on campus.