STORRS, Conn.—One of the eight residential dining units at the University of Connecticut, in Storrs, Buckley Dining, has been awarded a Three Star Certified Green Restaurant from the Green Restaurant Association (GRA).
Part of the Dining Service’s Master Plan to support UConn’s Division of Student Affairs and the university’s challenge to become better environmental stewards, the certification means that the unit needs to have a full-scale recycling program, be free of Polystyrene foam and fulfill yearly education requirements.
“Every day, more than three hundred million Americans make countless choices that can impact our environment,” Dennis Pierce, executive director of dining services, said in the university’s press release. “By being an environmental steward, we can reduce those impacts and make a difference in the kind of world we live in today to pass on to future generations. It is our goal to use the Buckley process as a prototype and then move to certify the remainder of our facilities.”
A nonprofit organization providing certification for environmentally responsible foodservice outlets since 1990, the GRA rates existing restaurants and foodservice operations with points in seven environmental categories, including water efficiency, waste reduction, sustainable furnishings and building materials, and chemical and pollution reduction.