{"id":123665,"date":"2017-03-27T09:18:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T13:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=123665"},"modified":"2023-06-27T13:08:07","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T17:08:07","slug":"uconn-among-first-universities-gain-green-rating-dining-halls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2017\/03\/uconn-among-first-universities-gain-green-rating-dining-halls\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Among First Universities to Gain \u2018Green\u2019 Rating at All Dining Halls"},"content":{"rendered":"

UConn has become one of a select few public universities in the U.S. to achieve \u201cgreen\u201d certification for every dining hall on campus, based on practices used at each site to promote environmental sustainability.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit Green Restaurant Association (GRA<\/a>) recently certified all of UConn\u2019s eight residential dining units as \u201cCertified Green Restaurants,\u201d a designation given to facilities that meet several standards in conserving energy and water, reducing food waste, reducing and recycling waste, and other measures.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The dining department removed trays to cut down on washing and on the amount of food that is taken but not eaten. (Sean Flynn\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Putnam Dining Hall on Oct. 4, 2016. (Sean Flynn\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
The dining department removed trays to cut down on washing and on the amount of food that is taken but not eaten. (Sean Flynn\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Dining<\/a>
Dining Services buys locally produced food whenever possible. (Gail Merrill\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Putnam9350677<\/div>
Dining Services buys locally produced food whenever possible. (Gail Merrill\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"The<\/a>
The newly renovated Putnam Refectory, one of eight dining halls certified as 'Green Restaurants' by the Green Restaurant Association. (Gail Merrill\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Putnam9350671<\/div>
The newly renovated Putnam Refectory, one of eight dining halls certified as 'Green Restaurants' by the Green Restaurant Association. (Gail Merrill\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Putnam<\/a>
Putnam Refectory is one of eight UConn dining halls that received 'Green Restaurant' certification for practices that promote environmental sustainability. (Gail Merrill\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Putnam9330712<\/div>
Putnam Refectory is one of eight UConn dining halls that received 'Green Restaurant' certification for practices that promote environmental sustainability. (Gail Merrill\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Students<\/a>
Students make their food selections at Putnam Refectory. (Gail Merrill\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Putnam9330722<\/div>
Students make their food selections at Putnam Refectory. (Gail Merrill\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"A<\/a>
A student drinking a cup of coffee at Putnam Refectory. The dining department has eliminated the use of Styrofoam in its facilities, and replaced disposable utensils with reusable items. (Sean Flynn\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
putnam_coffee161005d0011<\/div>
A student drinking a cup of coffee at Putnam Refectory. The dining department has eliminated the use of Styrofoam in its facilities, and replaced disposable utensils with reusable items. (Sean Flynn\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"The<\/a>
The newly renovated Putnam Refectory dining hall includes an area for growing fresh herbs. (Ryan Glista\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
putnam160908d034<\/div>
The newly renovated Putnam Refectory dining hall includes an area for growing fresh herbs. (Ryan Glista\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"The<\/a>
The newly renovated Putnam Refectory dining hall opened this past fall. (Gail Merrill\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
PutnamRefectory_cropped<\/div>
The newly renovated Putnam Refectory dining hall opened this past fall. (Gail Merrill\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"'Certified<\/a>
'Certified Green Restaurant' is a designation given to facilities that meet several standards in conserving energy and water, reducing and recycling waste, etc.<\/div>
putnam serving station_o<\/div>
'Certified Green Restaurant' is a designation given to facilities that meet several standards in conserving energy and water, reducing and recycling waste, etc.<\/div><\/div>\"The<\/a>
The kitchen in Putnam Refectory, like other UConn Dining Services facilities, uses EnergyStar equipment to conserve energy.<\/div>
putnam reno kitchen photo2<\/div>
The kitchen in Putnam Refectory, like other UConn Dining Services facilities, uses EnergyStar equipment to conserve energy.<\/div><\/div>\"A<\/a>
A staircase at Putnam Refectory dining hall.<\/div>
putnam staircase _o<\/div>
A staircase at Putnam Refectory dining hall.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

UConn\u2019s accomplishments include eliminating the use of Styrofoam in its facilities, operating a comprehensive recycling program, recycling grease to result in biodiesel fuel, and saving water and energy by using high-efficiency sprayers.<\/p>\n

The dining department also replaced disposable utensils with reusable items, uses Energy Star-rated equipment, buys locally produced food when possible, and removed trays to cut down on washing and on the amount of food that is taken but not eaten.<\/p>\n

\u201cAchieving \u2018Green Restaurant Certification\u2019 for all of our eight residential dining facilities was an important goal for us,\u201d said Dennis Pierce, UConn\u2019s director of dining services. Sustainability is part of UConn Dining Services\u2019 mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pierce said it is part of Dining Services\u2019 philosophy to treat the environment as \u201ca community to which we belong,\u201d and to treat it with love and respect rather than as a commodity. \u201cFor these reasons,\u201d he says, \u201cfor Dining Services, there were no choices but to achieve green certification.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students and their families can view the scores in each category for all of the dining facilities by clicking on the GRA logo next to the dining unit\u2019s name on the Department of Dining Services\u2019 online listing of locations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dining Services serves more than 180,000 meals weekly to students in the residence halls, and also operates a network of cafes and other eateries on campus.<\/p>\n

The department has won dozens of awards<\/a> over the years in several categories, including playing an important role in UConn\u2019s consistent placement in the Top 10 of the Sierra Club\u2019s \u201cCool Schools\u201d ranking for environmentally friendly colleges and universities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith eight Certified Green Restaurants on campus and 500 total environmental steps taken, the University of Connecticut\u2019s commitment to sustainability is clear,\u201d said Michael Oshman, CEO and founder of the Green Restaurant Association. \u201cThe University of Connecticut\u2019s dining services are leading the university food service industry to a more sustainable future.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All eight of UConn’s dining halls have been certified as ‘Green Restaurants’ for practices that promote environmental sustainability. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":123730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,2225,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1932],"class_list":["post-123665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gallery","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 05:33:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123665"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124080,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123665\/revisions\/124080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/123730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123665"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=123665"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=123665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}