Our goal is to have the most sustainable dining operation.

View the headlines below to learn more about our sustainable dining operations.

Emphasizing Plant Based Meals

Plant based meals are not only great for our health, lowering cardiovascular disease and cancer risk, but they have a positive impact on our environment.

Our dining program strives to offer a wide variety of plant-based meals across campus, utilizing fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes in creative ways. Students and guests can find a vegan or vegetarian option at every station across campus.

Students can pledge with Green Monday, an initiative with WashU Sustainability, to eat just one plant based meal per week!

Local Foods and Partnerships

Purchasing from local farmers reduces the number of miles it takes to get from farm to fork, lessening our carbon footprint.

We’re committed to purchasing more ingredients from local farmers and strive to include more convenience store items from local businesses!

Ethically Sourced Foods

We consider the farmers we purchase from, how we impact the environment, and the life of the animal when purchasing our foods.

Within our residential dining locations, you’ll find eggs only from cage-free chickens. We also source sustainably purchased seafood and fish certified by the Marine Stewardship Council or the Best Aquaculture Practices, as well as a mix of conventional and in-season, local produce to feed students on campus.

Zero Plastic Bottled Water

Washington University became the first North American University to ban the sale of plastic bottled water on its West, North, and Danforth campuses in 2009.

In partnership with WashU Sustainability, our dining program does not serve bottled water in any of our dining locations, at dining events, or catering. We encourage all students to carry a reusable water bottle and take advantage of our free water filling stations across campus!

Sustainable Packaging

WashU Dining only uses compostable packaging in our dining operations.

Although we highly encourage students to dine within our dining spaces to maximize their dining experience, we understand that college students are busy and on-the-go!

This is why we’ve partnered with Topanga.io to offer Reusepass, a sustainable option for to-go containers.

WashU ReusePass

Eat on the go with all the benefits and convenience of carryout and none of the waste!

Learn how ReusePass works here!