For Sodexo, being a good corporate citizen means ensuring a better quality of life for everyone now and for generations to come. Consistent with our mission and strong ethical values, Sodexo has always been committed to contributing positively to our society. Yet we are aware that being a responsible corporate citizen is an active journey-- one that requires a commitment and focus toward continuous improvement, day after day and year after year. This journey seamlessly aligns with our mission to consistently make each day a better one for our clients and our customers across North America and around the world.

Sodexo’s commitment to corporate citizenship in North America encompasses responsible practices related to social, environmental and business integrity concerns, which is another way to express the “triple bottom line” theme found in literature on this topic. Within each of these areas, Sodexo has many practices, programs and services that are dedicated to improving the quality of daily life for our clients, customers and employees now and for generations to come.

Sodexo has formalized our efforts under the “PLANit” name.  PLANit covers our sustainable food offer, our Reduce, Reuse, Recycle program and environmentally sound chemicals.

Reducing Paper Waste
We recently switched to a new napkin dispenser and napkin that is manufactured using recycled materials.  This new dispenser encourages customers to only take what they need, thereby reducing waste by 30%.   This alone will help save water, space in the landfill, energy, oil and trees.   We will track this to continue to better understand the impact.

Reducing Food Waste
Wherever we have food being produced, there is the potential for food waste. Some cities treat food waste as if it were any other recyclable, setting out curbside containers to collect organic discards, just like they collect aluminum cans or stacks of paper in traditional recycling bins. Sodexo facilities are accustomed to finding best management practices for food at the meal preparation stage; now our facilities are looking at best management practices for that food after the meal has ended. Here we provide examples of food waste campaigns that supports “Take What you can Eat” – helping posters – which encourage customers to take only what they will be able to enjoy during meal time.

Trayless Dining
PVAM was one of the pioneers in Trayless Dining.  This is one significant initiative that helps to minimize waste as well as water and energy usage while creating a more sustainable food service operation. There are many benefits for trayless in our dining operations, including:

• Electricity, water and chemical usage are reduced because there are far fewer dishes and trays to wash. This effect alone can save thousands of gallons of water every day and generate hundreds of dollars in detergent and electricity savings.
• Less detergents, solid waste and grease down the drain also improves our local community’s water supply. Food materials discharged to local waste water treatment plants contribute to increased levels of BOD (biological oxygen demand), COD (chemical oxygen demand), TSS (total suspended solids), and O/G (oil and grease). Also, food materials discarded into the solid waste stream contribute to odor and methane generation at disposal facilities and to increased BOD and COD levels in local landfills.
• Trayless dining substantially diminishes food waste by encouraging guests to take only the amount of food they can carry.
• Trayless service also provides an overall positive impact on student health. It discourages overeating and requires guests to get up and walk to get more food.
• This service style also cuts back on dining overhead cost because there is no purchase or ongoing replacement cost for trays.

Reuse
In the retail area, we will begin to offer our Recycle Mug program and offer refills at a discount.  By re-using these mugs, your customers reducing the amount of waste we generate by our grab and go programs.

Environmentally Sound Cleaning
Sodexo uses Environmentally Sound cleaning products at many schools across the country. This is another opportunity for us to bring Sustainability practices to PVAMU.  While there is a cost implication,. we can discuss selecting green products for use in your dining locations.  Sodexo looks for those that are certified by Green Seal and meet state or local “green” requirements. Green Seal is an independent, non-profit organization that utilizes industry, political and educational leaders to create standards by which environmental y preferable cleaning chemicals and equipment are measured.

Sustainable Purchasing
Listed below are other options for sustainabile activities.  While each has a cost consideration, they are great options to add to your program.

Certified Organic / Natural Products / Fair Trade
We can incorporate Certified Organic / natural / fair trade products were possible.   This extends from our produce/meat and dairy purchases to pre-packaged convenience foods such as nuts, chips and candies.  We can also take advantage of Seattle’s Best extensive selection of Fair Trade and Organic coffees.

Support of Texas-Grown Products
We can making foods from local farmers available to customers where possible and when in season, while still adhering to our number one priority of serving safe and high-quality food products.