Earth Week 2009

This article was archived on June 1, 2009

Earth Week Starts on April 20th

April 14, 2009

Earth Week 2009

Annually, University Dining Services celebrates Earth Day with a week of events in on-campus dining locations. This year “Earth Week” will run from April 20-24, with Earth Day falling on Wednesday, April 22. Stop by on-campus dining locations to check out year’s events are below:

Resident Dining

Trayless Dining (All Week Long) For the third year straight, the three resident dining commons are going completely trayless for Earth Week 2009. Trayless dining is proven effective at reducing food waste, as customers do not take as much food at once. Remember, our dining commons are all-you-care-to-eat, so you can always come back for seconds.

Weigh the Waste (Monday 4/20) Weigh the Waste is an opportunity for customers to see first-hand how quickly food waste can accumulate. Additionally, it allows them to become involved in the day-to-day composting process that is usually done by the resident dining staff. Students will be scraping their leftover food into compost bins at each meal period during the day and Dining Services staff weighs it. Last year food waste was reduced by 34% (600 lbs!) by going trayless!

Earth Week Buttons (Tuesday 4/21) Stop by Viking, Ridgeway or Fairhaven Commons and receive a limited edition Earth Week button.

Sustainability Dinner (Wednesday 4/22) Wednesday is Earth Day and the dining commons are celebrating with the annual Sustainability Dinner. The special theme meal will be served from 5:00p-6:45p and the menu will feature foods prepared with locally sourced ingredients. Below are a just a few examples:

  • Washington Pear and Jicama With Chili Lime Honey Dressing (Yakima, WA)
  • Draper Valley Farms Roasted Chicken Breast (Mt Vernon, WA) with Mojo Cherry (Yakima, WA) Sauce
  • Quarter Pound Smoked Tillamook Cheese Burger (Tillamook, Oregon) with Grilled Onions(Prosser, Washington) on a Franz Kaiser Bun (Seattle, Washington)
  • Edaleen Creamery Vanilla Ice cream (Lynden, Washington)

Sustainability is Sweet (Friday 4/24) A special event called “Sustainability is Sweet!” will be wrapping up the week’s events. At lunch and dinner there will be a special dessert bar to reward and thank customers for their efforts from dining without trays. The delectable dessert spread will include:

  • Chuckanut Truffle Cheesecake Triangles
  • Chocolate Cream Pie
  • Frost your own cookies
  • Decorated Earthday Cakes
  • Washington Apple Cobbler

Viking Union Market

Sustainability Info Table (Monday 4/20, Wednesday 4/22, Friday 4/24) On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Dining Services will have an information table set up in front of the entrance to Viking Union Market. Dining Services staff will be present, sharing University Dining’s sustainability initiatives with the campus community.

Campuswide

The Environmental Center will be hosting several other Earth Week events across campus all week long. Look forward to workshops, live performances and educational events. Check out the Environmental Center’s Events Calendar for more information.