The National Association for College and University Foodservice (NACUFS) has named the winners of the 2014 Sustainability Awards. The Sustainability Awards “annually recognize and honor member institutions that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the promotion and implementation of environmental sustainability, specifically as it relates to campus dining operations,” according to the organization’s website.
As dining services plays a vital role in overall sustainability initiatives and standards on college and university campuses, the NACUFS awards spotlight this role on member campuses that submitted entries, while recognizing forward-thinking programs within five categories: procurement practices, energy and water conservation, waste management, materials and resources, and outreach and education. An overall grand-prize winner, the NACUFS Award for Excellence in Sustainable Dining, will be chosen from the gold category winners and awarded during the NACUFS annual conference in Baltimore in July.
Here are the 2014 winners by category:
Waste Management
Gold – Washington University at St. Louis
Silver – University of Western Ontario
Bronze – University of California, Berkeley
Materials and Resources
Silver – University of Connecticut
Outreach and Education
Gold – University of Montana
Silver – Washington College
Bronze – North Carolina State University
Procurement Practices
Gold – University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Silver – Michigan State University
Bronze – Purdue University
There is also a student component of the awards program, the Green Champion Student Award, which recognizes a student from a member school “who has demonstrated leadership in the promotion and implementation of sustainable dining on his or her campus,” according to NACUFS. The gold winner will be presented with a $1,000 cash prize at an on-campus event.
The 2014 Green Champion Student winners are:
Gold – Kathleen Hunt, University of Utah
Silver – Steven Brickel II, Michigan State University
Bronze – Samuel Durfee, Plymouth State University
For more information visit nacufs.org.