
A quick scan of the nation's media will show a plethora of stories about institutions adopting practices such as trayless dining and -- in some cases -- composting or purchasing of local and organic food. Dining services professionals continue to face pressure from student groups and administrators to "green" their operations, work with local farmers, and reduce waste emissions; yet few institutions have taken a comprehensive approach to sustainable dining, moving beyond going trayless to making a substantive impact on the campus' carbon footprint.
To identify some low-cost opportunities and learn more about how dining services professionals can think comprehensively about greening dining services, we turned to one of the forerunners in this area -- Nell Fry, the sustainability coordinator for Georgia Tech's dining services. Here is Fry's advice.