1. Sustainability Project Guide
Broad Focal Points
Beforebeginning any new project/programof any scaleor scope,theSustainability Coordinator must discuss it with and
get approval of the Campus Resident District Manager (RDM). Any project that the Sustainability Coordinator begins
needs to fall in one or more of the following six categories or by approval only.
1. Local FoodPurchasing
o Work withAll Units/UnitManagers/ProductionStaff to,whenpossible,purchase local fooditems.
o Use as a guide the “10% Rule.” Example:If apack of 4 x 4 Tomatoescosts$1.00 fromCalifornia,andyoucan
findthe same or comparable productlocally,youcansuggestto Unit Managers that theypurchase that product
if it costs$1.10 or less. If the productcosts $1.11 or more,ourfoodbudgetwill notbe able toaccommodate the
increase incost.
o Thisis perhapsthe mostimportantareafor the SustainabilityCoordinatortoworkin.
o A trackingsystemalreadyexists
o It isveryimportantto create marketingmaterials
2. Waste Diversion
o Thisis basicallyanytimewe redirectanitemthatwasheadedtoa landfill orincineratoranddosomething
beneficial withitsuchasrecyclingor repurpose the iteminsome fashion.
o Rightnowcampus isat a 22% Waste DiversionRate. Thisneedstobe increased.
o Campusrecyclingefforts,inkcartridge recycling,ourBiofuel Project,the Southside FoodWaste Project,andany
foodwaste composting(currentlynon-existentoncampus) will all counttowardthe GMU Waste DiversionRate.
o For any RecyclingEfforts(teamupwith the Office of Recycling&Waste Management– Ron Lim, the Office of
Sustainability –TylerOrtonand the Office of Recycling,andthe DepartmentAuxiliaryEnterprises - Dan
Waxman)
3. FoodWaste
o Work withAll Units/UnitManagerstoreduce bothPre and Post-consumerFoodWaste.
o Withthe Pre-consumerWaste the UnitManagers alreadyhave theirstaff fill outProductionLogsthatstate the
amountsof each fooditemthattheyprepare dailyandwhat isleftoveratthe endof the day.
o If managersare findingthattheyhave a lotleftoveratthe endof the daythenyou can suggestthatthey
prepare the foodinsmallerbatches,justmore batchesmightbe needed.
o One othereasyway to reduce Pre-consumerfoodwaste istohave the managersmonitorandtraintheir
employeestoproperlyprepandtrimfruitsandvegetables.
4. PaperCost Reduction Strategies
o For all unitson all campuses.
o You will needaccesstothe Market Connectionsoftware.
o Work withunitmanagers to helpbalance outproductcost vs.environmental impact.
o NO STYROFOAM!!
o Lean towardrecyclable plasticsfirstandthentorenewable sourceslike paper.
o Use Biodegradablesonlyasalast resort,theyare usuallytooexpensive. Campuswaste doesno goto a landfill
or a compostpile. Everythinggetsshippedtoanincinerator. There isnopointto spenda higherprice whenit
getsincinerated.
5. ElectricityUsage ReductionStrategies
6. Water Usage ReductionStrategies

2. Ongoing Specific Projects
The following items are projects that are currently ongoing and may require dedicated effort periodically such as the
Local Food Sourcing/Tracking thatrequirestimespentoneday per month and atthe end of every quarter. Other projects
simply need a little refining and polishing before they can be launched into action such as the Local Seasonal Produce
Calendar/Seasonal Menu Planning.
 Local FoodSourcing& Tracking
o Accurate System/Spreadsheetalreadycreated.
o You will needaccesstothe Unit Financial System(UFS) software.
o At the beginningof everymonth,youmustaccessWebUFS andtallythe invoice totalsforall of vendorsinthe
spreadsheetforthe previousmonth.
o Occasionallyyoumustgenerate anewlistof VendorsinUFSand compare themto the spreadsheetandadd any
new/pertinentvendors thatexistwithinthe 250mile “local”definition tothe trackingsystem if theydonotexist
there.
o Reportthe overall local totals/percentagestoDanWaxmanin the DepartmentAuxiliaryEnterprises forquarterly
reporting.
 Local Seasonal Produce Calendar/Seasonal MenuPlanning
o Calendaralready createdbasedonavailabilityfromKeanyProduce.
o Work withCampusProductionManagers/Staff toutilize thiscalendartochange theirmenuchoicestoincrease
seasonal menuoptionsbasedonlocal availability.
o The goal isto measurablyincrease Local FoodPurchasing.
o Lenny(FoodCourt),Jamie (Southside),Joel (Rathskeller),Abbas(Catering).
 Southside FoodWaste Project
o Goal isto increase ourwaste diversionrate viaredirectingall foodwaste fromSouthside.
o A local non-profitcalledDCUrban Greenshasstartedto pick upand take our pulped(groundup) rawPre-
Consumerfoodwaste.
o Work withcompanyowner, Julie Kirkland (703-785-7902) on a pick-upschedule thatismutuallybeneficial.
o Julie iscurrentlyworkingongettingthe State of VirginiaLicensingtolegallycompostall typesof foodwaste.
o To date she hasonlybeenable toaccept VirginiaDEQCategory1 Food Waste,meaningfruitsandvegetables
only.
o Once the properdocumentation/licensingis takencare of by DC Urban Greens,ourprojectcan be made intoa
largeroperationthat can handle upto VirginiaDEQCategory3 FoodWaste,whichwill includethe meatproteins
as well asfruitand vegetablewastes.
o Discussionhasalsoledtothe possibilityof DCUrban Greenstakingfoodwastesfrom otherunits aswell as
Southside.
 Biofuel Project:UsedCookingOil Recycling
o Our maincurrentcompanyis calledDar ProSolutions. DarPro handlesall of ourcampusesexceptFrontRoyal.
Front Royal istoo far awayfor them. That campusis servicedbyValleyProteins.
o Dar Pro Solutionsisthe onlySODEXOApprovedVendorthatiscertifiedtoservice locationsforthe removal of
usedcookingoil.
o NEVERuse a non-approvedvendorif youhave anapprovedoption.
o We have hadmany problemsinthe pastwiththisproject.
o We initiallyusedValleyProteinsonall locations,theyrenderthe oil downandmake cattle feed.
o That doesnot have the bestpublicimage,sowe changedwhatlocationswe couldtoa companycalled
Associationof RestaurantOwnersforaSustainable Earth(AROSE) whousedthe oil tofuel apowergeneration
plant.
o We wentthroughmonthsof not gettingpaidforthe oil and notbeingable toget our oil vatsemptiedwhenwe
neededservice. Theybasicallybreachedcontract. We were thenforcedtofinda new company,sowe went
withDar Pro at the urgingof our SODEXORegional AccountManager (RAM) because itis an approvedcompany.

3.  Recycling
o Continuallytrytomake improvementstothe recyclingsystembothfrontandbackof the house.
o Currentlyinmostof our kitchenswe recycle all of ourcardboard, mostof ourmetal cans and plasticfood
containers.
o The JohnsonCenterFood Courtis a goodFocal Point forfrontof the house efforts.
o Talk withGail Suttonaboutremovingthe 6 trash cans inthe centerof the foodcourt near the recyclingcenter
(basicallythe closest6cans).
o Talk to TylerOrtonaboutremovingthe trashsection fromthe existingRecyclingCentersandreplacingitwith
anotherComingledsection(Plastics1-7,glass,andmetal). The comingledsectionisalwaysourlargestproducer.
o Alsothe SustainabilityCoordinatorwill needtospendalittle time observingthe behaviorof the customers
whenitcomesto the recyclingcenters. Forthe most part,the shadowbox conceptthatwe use todisplaywhat
itemsgoin eachbinseemstoconfuse our average customer.
 President’sParkGreenhouse
o Full Proposal iscompletedto growHydroponicLettuce.
o If we are awardedthe space,we will needtocomplete “Space Use Agreements”betweenMasonDiningandany
otherpartiesthatwill workwithus to detail the specificsof the agreement.
o We will needtofill outthe AEMCrequestfor the fundsto purchase the Hydroponicsandlightingequipment.
o Run everythingpastDanWaxman andMark Kraner (Our “Client”) inDepartmentAuxiliaryEnterprises.
o The projectis currently onholduntil the neighboringconstructionproject iscompleted inthe summerof 2014.
 Choose toReuse Program
o FoodCourt Programfor Reusable to-gocontainers.
o The current program layoutisbeingplacedinjeopardybyachange in cash registersoftware fromBlackboardto
Sequoia.
 Sustainable SeafoodProgram
o Marine StewardshipCouncil (MSC) HigherEducationInstitutionCertificationPilotProgram.
o Southside Only.
o Work withMark Arnold(Southside GM) aboutmarketingandtrackingof how many mealswe serve usingMSC
seafood.
 Southside FarmersMarket
o In the past,the GMU contractedSmart Markets to run a FarmersMarket on campus.
o Many problems existedwith SmartMarkets,includinglogisticsplanningandmanagement. The projecthadto
be terminated.
o Respondingtothe problems, MasonDiningtriedtorestartthe marketconcept withonly ourown,previously
contractedvendors.
o Everyvendorwouldbe partof KeanyProduce. KeanyContact– Roy Cargiulo.
o All the Farmersthat were goingtobe invited alreadyworkedwithKeany Produce, andwould fall underthe
KeanyLiabilityInsuranceUmbrella. Soif anythinghappens,andpeoplegetsick,MasonDiningiscovered.
o It was suggestedthatwe purchase the produce ourselvesandsell itatcost ourselves. Thiswouldincreaseour
laborcosts. AlsoIf we didnot sell all of the produce purchasedforthe market,we wouldthenhave tosomehow
workin that productioneffortsin the menuatSouthside topreventloss.
 SMART (SustainabilityMeasurementandReportingTool)
o Official SODEXOCorporate SustainabilityProgram.
o Use SodexoNetformore basicinformation.
o You will needtohave accessto the software called“BRIO”inorderto use thisprogram.
o Thistool runs throughthe same portal as BRIO.
o It isa listof broad spectrumandspecificsustainabilityquestions,thatwhenansweredwill giveyoufeedbackas
to howto improve individualunitsorall of campus.

4. Outreach & Education
Outreach and Education plays a large role in the Sustainability Coordinator’s projects/programs. Outreach can mean
anything fromgetting studentinvolvementto working cooperatively with a GMU professor or department on a project.
Education will come into the picture mostly in the form of correcting misconceptions of everyone from the average
student on campus to the various GMU staff members that may or may not be interested in participating in any
particular project.
One poignant example:
There is a large portion of campus, including staff members in both the Office of Sustainability and the
Department Auxiliary Enterprises that believe that when it comes to disposable products, going
biodegradableisautomaticallythe best,mostsustainablesolution. Mostof the individuals that believe
thus are not looking at the big picture, and not factoring cost into their decision. If the campus was
sendingitsrefuse toalandfill,biodegradables would be the obvious choice, except for their high cost.
All of the campus garbage is currently being collected and sent to an incinerator to generate power.
Withthat being said, it simply does not make sense to spend $0.15 more per item for biodegradables,
whenwe use more than 500,000 of that itemeveryyear(suchaswith our to-go containers). When you
consider all factors involved, recyclable plastics are relatively cheap to purchase, and if recycled
correctly will helpourwaste diversionrate. Sowhenadecision is being made, always try to look at the
larger picture, and always consider the financial implications.
 Sustainable DiningBrainstorming&InformationSessionSeries
o FirstsessioncompleteonFoodWaste & Local Food. Hopefullymore tocome inthe future onvarioustopics in
the “Broad Focal Point”section.
o Team upwiththe Office of Sustainability(Danielle Wyman) andDepartmentAuxiliary Enterprises(Dan
Waxman).
o Thiswas designedtospecificallygetthe feedbackandideas of the MasonCommunityaboutthe Sustainability
Projects/Programsof MasonDining.
 RetrainYour Brain
o A marketingcampaignthatisdesignedtochallengethinkingpatternsof the campuspopulation andmake them
rethinktheiractions,aswell as tobring back the oldslogan“Reduce,Reuse,Recycle”andputa newspinon it.
o “REDUCE whatyou use,REUSE whenyoucan and,RECYCLE whenyoucan’t”.
o Designedtoworkwitheveryaspectof Sustainability.
o Thisprojectneedstobe reinvigoratedwithnew energy.
 SustainabilityWall
o In frontof the cashier,onthe secondfloorinSouthside.
o Update thiswall as oftenas possible withnew marketingmaterialfornew sustainability projectswhenthey are
completed.
o The marketingmaterial cancome from one of two places:createdin-houseorCorporate SODEXO.
o Work withMarketing(DalianaandKrissy) tohave piecescreatedin-house andprinted.
 Local FoodTags
o Thisprogram shouldrunwithoutmuchefforton the part of the SustainabilityCoordinator.
o Setsof tags that identifyindividualfooditems,the farmsthattheycame from locallyandthe cityand state that
the farm islocatedin.
o There are 2 placesthat have thisprogram. Southside andBistro.
o It isthe Responsibility of the UnitManagerto have the correct tags setout daily.
o Occasionally,youwillhave togeton the managersto have themkeepupwiththe tags.

5. Completed Projects that require weekly effort
 Digital Signage &Menus
o Southside Only
o You will needaccesstothe followingsoftware programs:
 FoodManagementSystem(FMS)
 ContentManager
o Your basictask isto take the menuforSouthside foreachweekfromFMS andreconfigure itinContentManager
and deploy ittothe digital screensinthe DiningHall
o If you encounterproblemswiththisprocesstalktoCharlesOlson(MasonDiningITManager)
 LeanPath
o Southside FoodWaste Management Project
o Work withMark Arnoldand Southside ManagementStaff.
o The goal of the programis to helpsave moneybywastinglessPre-Consumerfood.
o Generate weeklyreports throughthe “ValuWaste”software onthe SDXSustaincomputerdesktopandthe
scalesinthe Southside Kitchen.
o Make 6 Copiesof the reports. Youkeep one copyfor yourfilesthe othercopiesgoto: Mark Arnold,Jamie
Feindt,Cooper, the Southside ManagersBooks, andthe bulletinboardinthe backof the kitchen.
o Alsouploada copyof the data file tothe software websiteforremote storage andanalysis.
 Southside PatioGarden
o There are 4 large containersof culinarycookingherbsonthe Southside Patio(SweetBasil,Thai Basil, Thyme,
and Rosemary)
o Must be wateredregularly.
o The plantswill continue toproduce andgrow as longas you trimoff any flowerbudsastheystart.
o Potsmust be broughtin duringcoldermonths.