Sustainability On-Campus:

  • Campus-Wide 
    - Earth Day Festival
    - Recyclemania
    - Market on the Avenue (Farmers Market)

    - Sustainability Committee Member
    - Sustainability Purchases Committee Member
    - Fair-trade Steering Committee Leader
    - Green Team Leader
    - Local Purchasing from: ATP Greenhouses, Prairie Farms, and Chaney's Dairy Barn
  • Concessions
    - KY Proud Legends Hot Dogs, KY Proud Popcorn, Chaney's Dairy Barn, Gigi's Cupcakes, and Local Taco
  • Catering
    - Offers compostable cups/plates/utensils as an option
    - Offers China plates as an option
    - Offers zero-waste options
  • Fresh Food Company 
    - Green Dining Location
                
    - Compostable To-Go Containers
    - Farm to Campus
    - Tray-less Dining

    - Local Purchasing
    - Serving 1/2 pints of milk from Sysco
  • Java City 
    - Eco-Grounds Coffees are Fair-Trade or Rain Forest
    - Alliance Certified Coffees
    - Recycles Plastic Milk Containers
    - All Bewley's Hot Teas are Fair Trade, Including Chai Tea
    - No Plastic Bags or Styrofoam
    - Local Products - Prairie Farms Milk
  • Einstein Bros. Bagels 
    - Features Tribecca Blend Coffee
    - No Plastic Bags or Styrofoam
    - Food Recovery Location
  • Starbucks

    - Fair Trade Yukon & Italian Roast Coffee Blends
    - Local Products - Prairie Farms Milk
    - All wood used in the construction is reclaimed/recycled 
  • Garrett Food Court
    - Fair Trade Bewley's Tea
    - Local Products - Prairie Farms Milk
    - Food Recovery Location
  • DaVinci's 
    - No Plastic Bags or Styrofoam
    - Food Recovery Location
  • Convenience Stores 
    - Organic & Natural Foods
    - Food Recovery Location (Pit Stop Convenience Store)
    - Fair-Trade Chocolate
    - KY Proud Products Available - Ale 8, Chaney’s Dairy Barn (Big Red Rumble Ice Cream) and Prarie Farms Milk
  • Panda Express
    - Uses Compostable To-Go containers that will help divert waste from trash
  • Subway
    - Food Recovery Location (Both Subway @ Garrett and Subway @ Bates)
  • Burrito Bowl
    - Compostable Containers
  • All Locations 
    - Recycle Used Cooking Oil
    - Use Eco-Cleaning Products
    - Use Eco-Friendly Napkins
    - Recycle Cardboard
    - All eggs used are Cage Free
    - Pre- & Post-Consumer waste composted and taken to WKU Farm
  • Business & Marketing Offices 
    - Uses A Local “Green Printer” For Printing Our Promotional Materials
    - Using Recycled Paper And Soy Inks.
    - Uses Recycled Copy Paper
    - Uses "Green Seal Certified" Cleaning Products

We work together to continually develop and implement sustainable solutions. Through Green Thread, our environmental sustainability platform, we bring innovative and efficient solutions to life. We are passionately focused on reducing the environmental impact within our operations. Here are just a few ways we work to make our campus more environmentally conscious:



Local Purchasing

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Did you know WKU Restaurant Group sources food from many local famers, growers and distributors? The list changes throughout the year depending on seasonality and availability. However, here is a sampling of a few of our partners: 

  • Prairie Farms, ATP Greenhouses, Chaney’s Dairy Barn, and KY Blaze Fuel


Recycling

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WKU Restaurant Group partners with campus to recycle cardboard and used cooking oil from all restaurants across campus. We are committed to minimizing our environmental footprint. Look for signs in our locations for information on where to put your recyclables.

Reusables

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Fresh Food Company is now a Certified Green Restaurant! Here's why:

  • Our leftover grease is recycled into biodiesel
  • We have a comprehensive recycling program that includes composting pre-consumer and post consumer waste food
  • Reusable dishes and compotsable to-go containers are used to reduce waste from disposables
  • We have a water bottle filling station and our condiments are served in bulk, which reduces packaging waste


Recycled Content Paper

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We use 100% recycled content office and copy paper in all marketing and WKU Restaurant Group locations on-campus.

Hydration Stations

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WKU Restaurant Group offers several hydration stations throughout campus.  Use the filtered water stations to refresh and refuel while helping to impact your carbon footprint.

Green Cleaning

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All WKU Restaurant Group locations are committed to using eco-friendly daily green cleaning products in our operations to reduce the need for chemical based cleaning products and provide a healthy and safe learning environment.

Energy & Water Conservation

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We train our employees each semester on common energy and water conservation practices in order to conserve precious natural resources.

Food Recovery

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In January 2019, a partnership with WKU Food Recovery (a student-run organization) and the WKU Restaurant Group began recovering leftover food that was not used in daily service. The WKU Restaurant Group is able to donate food to organizations that give to individuals facing hunger or food insecurity.

As of October 2020, we have reached a milestone of collecting 5000 pounds of food that has been donated to the community and been diverted from waste!

Currently, WKU Food Recovery picks up from DaVinci's, Einstein's Bagels, Garrett Food Court (York Street), Pit Stop Convenience Store, Subway @ Garrett, and Subway @ Bates. Our weekly tracking of donated pounds can be seen at https://www.foodrecoverynetwork.org/.