Minnesota Schools Cutting Carbon

Itasca Community College has applied for a grant from Minnesota Schools Cutting Carbon. Our Sustainability Club decided to focus on our food service, since the cafeteria provides two meals a day for the student body, including the one hundred plus students that live on campus. Our proposal has two objectives: (1) to reduce the amount of waste generated by the cafeteria and (2) reduce the overall carbon footprint of the cafeteria. Currently the cafeteria disposes its organic food waste with the rest of the trash. With this grant the cafeteria will begin to compost its organic food waste so that it can be used in various ways around campus. Currently the cafeteria uses disposable food containers, trays, cups, bowls and utensils. To achieve the second objective of this grant, we plan to purchase and implement reusable dishes and utensils along with implementing tray less dining.