Reusable Container Initiative

By: Kaylee Chen, Anna Kim, Safira Schiowitz, Hannah Park, Elina Yang

When Exonians started eating at Elm Street or Wetherell again, they were met with the unexpected sight of stacked rows of bright green, reusable containers. To reduce the waste generated by the single-use containers implemented because of the pandemic, Dining Services and Sustainability and Natural Resources collaborated to launch a new greenware initiative. Community members must empty and return their reusable containers after use to the green-colored bins around campus.

Manager of Sustainability and Natural Resources Warren Biggins noted last year’s waste management challenges. “Covid impacted dining operations in a major way, and dining had to adapt very quickly to a grab-and-go model,” Biggins said. “Unfortunately, the grab-and go model just inherently leads to an increase in the volume of waste that is generated during dining operations.”

The greenware initiative sprung from that idea, as Biggins detailed. “Throughout [last] year, I spoke regularly with Ms. Leonard and dining services staff about what was working and what wasn’t,” Biggins said. “Ultimately, we decided that we’d like to pilot a reusable program, which we did during Exeter Summer. That pilot went well and we agreed that we’d like to move to reusables for this school year.”

Wetherell Manager Heidi Dumont outlined the benefits of the containers. “This initiative of reusable containers has many benefits beyond reducing environmental footprint—the containers hold the food well, [are] easy to carry, visible color in the waste sorting process and the benefit of reusability is attracted from a waste management perspective—less trash going in our landfills,” she said.

First implemented during Exeter Summer, the initiative has been constantly undergoing improvement. 

Elm Assistant Manager Rebecca Ives shared problems that arose over the summer.  “Almost a third of [the] inventory that we provided [was lost]... [The containers] were often found in the trash, if we were lucky. At the end of the summer we ended up getting some back that students had stock piled in the dorms,” Ives said. Ives also mentioned that the return “totes,” or bins, for the reusable containers were being misused despite the labels. 

However, Ives believed the switch to green-colored totes at the beginning of the school year has improved the situation. According to Ives, returning the containers quickly at Elm Street is “vital for this program to be effective,” as “Elm Street is the larger dining hall that sees a lot more foot traffic.”

Biggins commented on the rise of reusable containers that are kept outside of dining halls. “We’re starting to hear that these are accumulating in dorm kitchens, common rooms, and offices,” he said.

Additionally, Biggins noted that “the reusable containers should mostly be used for grab-and-go dining—when eating in the dining halls, folks should use the ceramic plates and utensils.”

Leonard asked that the community make an effort to contribute to a more sustainable campus. Students must return greenware upon finishing a meal, as replacing the taken containers “is not cost effective or sustainable, so we seek everyone’s support here on this critical piece,” Leonard said.

“We also ask that folks make sure the greenware is empty before depositing into greenware barrels and not to place trash or compost in these barrels,” Leonard said. “This creates more work for many folks in Dining and [Facilities Management] that are collecting greenware containers.”

Upon collecting the containers, the dining team works to clean and prepare the containers for reuse. They sort through post-consumer waste, compost food, and wash, sanitize, and air dry the containers. “Our dining team works very hard to make it look seamless,” Dumont said, “All the bins are checked daily and cleaned.”

Many faculty and students appreciate the reusable containers. Senior Alex Ecker uses the containers to bring back cereal in place of an early morning breakfast. “The containers have been very helpful for me, as I am a heavy sleeper and like the convenience of having something sturdy to take back to my dorm,” he said.

Prep Ethan Guo cites the convenience of the containers’ portability. “As a day student, I can take boxes of food to go and return them easily.” 

Student athletes have also been taking the containers to sports practices or competitions. Prep Leta Griffith said, “They are handy for XC (cross-country) meets.” 

Upper Ryann Gholston agreed. “So far, I’ve used the reusable containers to pack quick to-go lunches for away games now that fall sports have kicked into full gear,” she said. 

“I’ve also used them for on the go dinners when I don’t have time to sit in d-hall. There isn’t anything I would change about these! I love that there are bins placed around campus for us to return the containers, too,” Gholston said.

Math Instructor Timothy Whittemore, who often uses reusable containers when eating in the dining hall with his family, also believed that “having the reusable containers visible can help us all be mindful of the large amount of waste we produce.”

Some students provided suggestions for improving the initiative. Lower Gunn Sukhum mentioned the inconvenience of finding the deposit bins for the reusable containers using them. Sukhum recommended increasing the number of bins around campus. “I still see some people throwing the [reusable] containers into normal [not meant for the reusable containers] bins,” he said.

Prep Ethan Henry agreed. “The containers are helpful most of the time when I want to go outside to eat but can be an inconvenience when I want to eat somewhere without a close deposit box.” 

Some community members called for greater information about the sustainability and impact of the reusable containers.

Upper Krish Patel believed that the containers have “good purpose and intent” but “seemed to have the same environmental impact as the eat-in plates.” However, Patel noted “the outreach for scientific reason was somewhat lacking.”

Prep Elaine Qiao agreed. “To me, the reusable containers seem to be working fine, but I would appreciate more information being given about this initiative and perhaps some statistics on the impact the initiative is making so that we could see the improvement.”

Whittemore expressed that it would be helpful to learn more about the containers. “I would encourage more explicit education and encouragement about use, including returning them to the dining hall,” he said.

The sustainability work is ongoing, according to Director of Dining Services Melinda Leonard. “Dining will be transitioning over to offering only greenware for grab and go. Thyme and Tide will be using compostable until we are able to provide china service [plates] during the dinner meals at Wetherell,” she said.

For now, Ives hopes the greenware initiative will continue to promote more sustainable dining. “As a community we need to work together. To help encourage others to make Greener Choices. We can only move forward in a better direction one step, one choice, at a time.” 

Biggins shared similar thoughts, calling on the community to take care with the initiative. ”The success of this program is absolutely dependent on students, faculty and staff returning the containers!”