If you have ever wondered how your Chartwells dining hall here at Worcester State is becoming more sustainable, Rich Perna is more than willing to tell you how. Sustainability is one of the main foundations behind Chartwells and in the past couple of years we have taken more and more initiatives.
One of the first initiatives came during Rich's first week here at WSU was going trayless, this saved water, energy and chemicals because around 2000 trays per day did not have to go through the dishwasher.
Another initiative at WSU is sourcing out local food. Chartwells uses a vendor called FoodEx that works with local small farms to get us fresh fruits and vegetables. This sustainable act has decreased Chartwells carbon footprint because many of our fruits and vegetables no longer travel very far to reach us.
Rich has already begun to plan into the future for more sustainable projects. These projects will commence in the Fall of 2014 when the new dining hall opens. Chartwells will work hand in hand with WSU to be more sustainable by using a dehydrator for all food waste. Once the food is dehydrated and ground down into what looks like coffee grinds, this can then be used as fertilizer for the plants around campus.
Earth Day invites everyone to "Go Green" for the day, so in honor of Earth Day on April 22, 2013 the WSU Dining Hall Lancers Loft did just that, in a very decorative sense. The recycle tin can WooMan greeted students as they entered the dining hall. The dessert station that day was enriched and inspired with Earth and nature. Blue and green frosted sugar cookies, flowers created from white and pink cupcakes, and cups of dirt with worms! The Lancers Loft over the years has made many changes to make the operation more "green". The dining hall has many plans for next year and future years in the new facility to make the operation as green as possible.
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