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• Low Carbon Diet Day
• Low Carbon Diet Day FAQ

We would like your advice about what changes should be made in the dining program to help in the effort to move Oberlin College towards carbon neutrality. But, before you think about the most environmentally friendly way to dispose of your waste (e.g. recycling or composting), consider what you can do to prevent waste.

Here are some of the areas of concern that CDS staff and OC students have identified in the past:

Packaging Waste:

• We recognize that recycling glass, plastic, paper and metal reduces the energy and raw materials needed to produce brand new resources and decreases the amount of waste for disposal. We recognize collecting, transporting and processing have their own costs, but we will continue to recycle until a better solution is found.
  
  
• We request the least amount of packaging from our vendors. Vendors are able to reuse crates and other packaging when delivering to CDS.
  
  
• At the DeCafé, fabric tote bags, mugs and reusable bottles are available for those interested in creating less waste.

Kitchen Scraps and Food Waste Audit:

• The food system is not environmentally benign. Distributed among all its component parts, the food system represents one-third of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. We are all responsible for finding new ways to decrease waste.
  
  
• Beginning January, 2009 we have conducted daily audits in all CDS kitchens of all kitchen scrap amounts. We are mining the data to determine why kitchen scrap amounts have not decreased.
  
  
• Beginning February, 2009 we have conducted food waste audits, Monday - Friday during lunch in Stevenson. During our pilot week, we found that 105 pounds of food were wasted. Three weeks later, an average of 62 pounds of food was returned to the dish room, or a 59% decrease in food waste.

Updated: 17/4/09