Campus Sustainability
Contact Information:
UCCS Office of Sustainability
1420 Austin Bluffs Pkwy CSB 207
Colorado Springs CO 80918
sustain@uccs.edu
Telephone: 719-255-3089
Linda Kogan
Director, Office of Sustainability
1420 Austin Bluffs Pkwy CSB 207
Colorado Springs CO 80918
lkogan@uccs.edu
Telephone: 719-255-3757
Sign up for our newsletter here!
Sustainability Tours:
Members of the UCCS Sustainability Office are available to lead campus tours that highlight sustainability initiatives. Highlights include a focus on LEED certification and high performance buildings, including the Recreation Center and Science Engineering, introduction to our single-stream recycling program, and a visit to our organic garden. Please call us at 255-3089 so that we can design a tour that meets the needs of your group.
Home > Food
Food
When the average item of food travels over 1200 miles from farm to plate and modern farming practices often include numerous toxic fertilizers and pesticides, food is a critical aspect of sustainability. Overall objectives in our Sustainability Strategic Plan provide for high quality nourishment for people on campus that is healthfully prepared, features organic and locally produced food, serves to educate the campus community about sustainable food choices, and produces minimal food and paper waste.
Sodexo, Inc., provides all food service for the university and is committed to increasing sustainable food practices on campus. Coffee in the Lodge is Fair Trade Certified and coffee at other vendors on campus is organic or Rainforest Alliance Certified. Sodexo works with distributors to obtain local foods and organic foods when available, but quantities provided to the campus community need to be increased. Composting, education, and creating a large organic garden for the campus are all strategies that would make food more sustainable at UCCS.
Reducing Food Waste and Costs
Sodexo implemented a "Trayless Tuesdays" in the Lodge cafeteria. Studies show that going
trayless can reduce food waste by 25-30% as students are less likely to carry more than they can eat to their tables. A past study of food waste in the Lodge indicated that 30% of food by weight was wasted.
Organic Gardens
The Family Development Center, which offers early childhood programs and provides day care for students, faculty and staff as well as the community at large, has created an
educational organic vegetable garden. Children share in watering and caring for the garden using the organic fertilizer made in their worm composter. The children learn about agriculture, weather, food, and recycling in a hands-on, sensory-filled, environment. Recently, the Family Development Center was named a National Wildlife Sanctuary (www.nwf.org), perhaps the only preschool in the nation to hold this designation.
"The greatest gift of our garden is the opportunity for all of the children to dig in the dirt and get in touch with the outdoors, a lost art for many city children."
-- Ida Bauer, Director FDC
UCCS students, faculty, and staff are currently working to establish an organic vegetable garden on the main campus. The purpose of the garden is to educate the campus community, particularly younger students who may be away from home for the first time, about local, organic food, nutrition, and sustainable agricultural practices. The garden will serve as a living laboratory for research on variety of sustainability topics as well as provide delicious local, organic food.
Contact Information:
UCCS Office of Sustainability
1420 Austin Bluffs Pkwy CSB 207
Colorado Springs CO 80918
sustain@uccs.edu
Telephone: 719-255-3089
Linda Kogan
Director, Office of Sustainability
1420 Austin Bluffs Pkwy CSB 207
Colorado Springs CO 80918
lkogan@uccs.edu
Telephone: 719-255-3757
Sign up for our newsletter here!
Sustainability Tours:
Members of the UCCS Sustainability Office are available to lead campus tours that highlight sustainability initiatives. Highlights include a focus on LEED certification and high performance buildings, including the Recreation Center and Science Engineering, introduction to our single-stream recycling program, and a visit to our organic garden. Please call us at 255-3089 so that we can design a tour that meets the needs of your group.
Food
When the average item of food travels over 1200 miles from farm to plate and modern farming practices often include numerous toxic fertilizers and pesticides, food is a critical aspect of sustainability. Overall objectives in our Sustainability Strategic Plan provide for high quality nourishment for people on campus that is healthfully prepared, features organic and locally produced food, serves to educate the campus community about sustainable food choices, and produces minimal food and paper waste.
Sodexo, Inc., provides all food service for the university and is committed to increasing sustainable food practices on campus. Coffee in the Lodge is Fair Trade Certified and coffee at other vendors on campus is organic or Rainforest Alliance Certified. Sodexo works with distributors to obtain local foods and organic foods when available, but quantities provided to the campus community need to be increased. Composting, education, and creating a large organic garden for the campus are all strategies that would make food more sustainable at UCCS.
Reducing Food Waste and Costs
Sodexo implemented a "Trayless Tuesdays" in the Lodge cafeteria. Studies show that going trayless can reduce food waste by 25-30% as students are less likely to carry more than they can eat to their tables. A past study of food waste in the Lodge indicated that 30% of food by weight was wasted.
Organic Gardens
The Family Development Center, which offers early childhood programs and provides day care for students, faculty and staff as well as the community at large, has created an educational organic vegetable garden. Children share in watering and caring for the garden using the organic fertilizer made in their worm composter. The children learn about agriculture, weather, food, and recycling in a hands-on, sensory-filled, environment. Recently, the Family Development Center was named a National Wildlife Sanctuary (www.nwf.org), perhaps the only preschool in the nation to hold this designation.
"The greatest gift of our garden is the opportunity for all of the children to dig in the dirt and get in touch with the outdoors, a lost art for many city children." -- Ida Bauer, Director FDC
UCCS students, faculty, and staff are currently working to establish an organic vegetable garden on the main campus. The purpose of the garden is to educate the campus community, particularly younger students who may be away from home for the first time, about local, organic food, nutrition, and sustainable agricultural practices. The garden will serve as a living laboratory for research on variety of sustainability topics as well as provide delicious local, organic food.