Student Involvement
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Hello AASHE community,
I have a couple years of experience initiating students to think more about sustainability in a college setting. I am now at a university where my primary obligations are getting students involved in sustainability, but specifically at the dining center. I'm seeking ideas that may aid my efforts in involving students in any of the following categories: waste reduction, energy and water, responsible procurement, education and engagement, health and nutrition, and social equity. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time!
Kayla :)
Thanks Niles, I do plan on contacting some professors this summer to see if any classes in the fall would be interested in taking on some research projects as you suggested.
We have successfully accomplished some of these aspects of dining (trayless, reusable mug and container discounts, recycled napkins), but we're also working on improving some of these as well (more vegan/vegetarian options, composting, sustainability policies).
Follow up question, any resources or suggestions for conducting student focus groups?
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Hey Kayla,
Students can be really helpful in advocating for changes in policy and helping with some of the necessary research to justify changes. Perhaps a campaign or research project to assess the feasibility of increasing the amount of food and beverages that are organic and/or are grown and processed within a 250 mile radius of the campus?
Students can also be helpful in promoting other changes towards more sustainable dining services as well. For example, is the dining facility trayless already? Does the dining facility already offer diverse, complete-protein vegan dining options during every meal? Has the institution adopted sustainability policies or guidelines for food service franchisees operating on campus?Does it have pre and/or post consumer composting?
What about reusable mug discounts? Are napkins required to have reclycled content? Are there reusable to go containers available?
If the campus is already doing these things it may be worth making sure students are educated on them. Having students table and talk about the programs can also be effective.