UTRGV’s Auxiliary Business Services is working with Sodexo to reduce plastic waste on campus.
“We’re working with our partner, Sodexo, on the food services side to try and implement strategies to reduce waste in the production of food on campus,” said Roberto Cantu, the executive director of Auxiliary Business Services. “They already have strategies in place to, kind of, reduce waste by. They have a program called Way To Waste. … I do know that they do quite a bit already to reduce waste on campus.”
Coca-Cola deploys bins on the Edinburg campus, which the Facilities Planning & Operations department then picks up when full. Cantu said Auxiliary Business Services wanted to implement something similar on the Brownsville campus but the program has not been developed yet.
“That’s not to say they’re not going to do that in the future, but they weren’t able to do it when it was requested in the spring,” he said.
The director said the department can work closer with Chick-fil-A to try and reduce the usage of bags.
Cantu encourages students on the Edinburg campus to use the recycling bins.
“I think we need to train our cashiers,” he said. “Possibly, we might be able to benefit from this. In some retail operations, bags are given out blindly, you know what I mean, it’s part of the process. It could be a pack of gum and they’ll give a bag. I think we need to be a little more thoughtful in training our employees and determining whether or not a specific transaction, or the sale of an item, even necessitates the use of a plastic bag.”
Auxiliary Services has worked closely with the Office of Sustainability in deploying different strategies for reducing waste.
Cantu said the university has implemented different initiatives to reduce the use of water and chemicals when washing dishes. Trays that were given out in the dining hall were eliminated due to waste.
“Not only the waste in having to wash all of these trays, but also in the amount of food that was put on the trays and then not consumed,” he said. “Many times, we were seeing too much of that food going in the trash can. … Not only is it more eco-friendly but it’s also saving all of that. Fiscally, it made more sense. At this point, we are obviously very aware of our environment. We realize that the operations could have an impact, you know, on our environment and we keep our eyes open.”
Cantu said it is important that everyone help reduce waste.
“We only have one Earth and I think it’s up to us to be good stewards and I also think that it’s important for these types of initiatives to be on the radar for Auxiliary Business Services operations,” he said. “We have to do our part, everybody does. It’s not just up to our students. … I think everybody has to have some skin in the game when it comes to this.”
Susie Gonzales, a registered dietitian and marketing coordinator for Sodexo, said the dining services contractor is always working on trying to reduce its organic and inorganic waste.
As a marketing coordinator, Gonzales is in charge of promotions, discounts and events on campus. As a dietitian, she works on implementing healthier menu options and bringing awareness to health and wellness.
“First, we try to reduce and reuse and then recycle,” she said. “So, we go through all those steps and we always want our consumers … to be a part of that as well.”
Gonzales said they are trying to reduce waste, not just at the dining hall, but at all their retail locations across the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses.
“We want to know how many students come through, what’s favored, what’s least favored, so that way we’re not producing a lot of food that is just going to go to waste,” she said.
Sodexo is able to pinpoint how much to make of certain food options, which helps in reducing the amount of food that goes to waste. At the end of each meal period, if something could be reused for the next, Gonzales said it will, but the dining service always keeps its safety standards in place.
Another way Sodexo tries to reduce waste is working hand in hand with vendors to use as little packaging as possible.
“We choose to go with the packages that have minimal packaging,” she said. “So, like, our ketchup, mayo and mustard, that comes in one rather than a bunch of tiny little ones.”
Sodexo’s catering service also works on trying to reduce waste. It offers biodegradable options, such as knives, bowls, napkins, boxes, bags, cups and lids for events, instead of using plastic, at an additional price.
“We have worked closely with the Office of Sustainability and we’re really trying to implement all biodegradable paper products on campus, and so this past semester we did implement biodegradable straws at all of our locations and that’s at no additional charge,” Gonzales said.
She said some ideas to better promote reducing waste are to collaborate with other departments and create awareness.
She encourages students to purchase reusable utensils they can carry around to help further reduce waste.
Marisol Cervantes, president of the Environmental Awareness Club, said she did not know about Sodexo’s biodegradable catering option but thinks it is a good idea.
“I think it’s a great option that should be switched from going to plastics to just permanently biodegradable,” Cervantes said. “Plastic stays on Earth for hundreds of thousands of years. So by having compostable disposables, you would have a lot less waste and would go back into the Earth sooner.”
She told The Rider about a special collaboration between the Office of Sustainability, Environmental Awareness Club members and other people interested in reducing food waste on campus.
“The food recovery group is in the process of finding out where the food waste is coming from and how we can obtain that food waste to, instead of letting it go to waste, we can use it for, like, giving it out to people who are in need of it,” Cervantes said.
Roy Cantu, Student Government Association vice president, said the organization is looking for ways to promote the reduction of waste on campus.
“We’re aware that there’s not really recycling happening within the United States, so it’s not just in the university,” Roy Cantu said. “Now, to try to push it, it’s kind of a little more sensitive because students actually vote on, you know, having the Green [Fund] fee but, we’re looking. We’re doing our research, trying to see what we can do, what we can implement within the campus itself to be able to reduce the waste and if we can reduce it, what can we do to that waste and make it something positive for the university.”
Green fees are used to support campus efficiency and student projects in an effort to initiate and support advancements in sustainability at schools, according to the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators website (naspa.org).
As The Rider previously reported, the Student Government Association voted Oct. 17 to establish a referendum on a Green Fund fee.
With the Green Fund fee, Roy Cantu said students would be more aware of what is going on within the university and country. Still, the vice president asks students to help.
“We do ask for the students to help us a little,” he said. “You walk around campus, you see trash, you see trash in our lake. Why? Because students, maybe it’s not their fault, sometimes they throw it away and it flies out. So, we’re asking for the students to help us, as well, to reduce that.”
Roy Cantu said it is important to maintain an eco-friendlier campus for future generations.
“It’s not so hard to pick it up and throw it away,” he said. “It takes 2 seconds. … We live in this home. We’re leaving this university itself for future generations. The planet, if we don’t take care of it, who’s going to take care of it?”
The vice president hopes students will help and be considerate of how they dispose of trash.
“Help us help you,” Roy Cantu said. “If you could use less trash within yourself, be able to reduce trash within yourself, maybe it’s a small contribution but along the way it’s going to add up.”
