Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 54.46
Liaison Audrey McSain
Submission Date March 30, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Lehigh University
IN-10: Sustainable Dining Certification

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 0.50 Delicia Nahman
Sustainability Officer
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Is at least one on-campus dining hall or food service outlet certified by the following organizations? (at least one positive response required):
Yes or No
The Food Recovery Network Yes
The Green Restaurant Association (GRA) (Two Star or higher) Yes
Green Seal (GS-55 Standard for Restaurants and Food Services) ---
Leaders for Environmentally Accountable Foodservice (LEAF) ---
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Chain of Custody Certification No
Responsible Epicurean and Agricultural Leadership (REAL) ---
An equivalent program approved by AASHE ---

A brief description of each certified dining hall or food service outlet, including the year the certification was achieved and/or renewed:
Two Star Green Restaurant Association (Rathbone dining, 2016): Lehigh University is eager to green operations within Dining Services and has taken a series of actions that led Sodexo-operated Rathbone Student Restaurant to be officially named a two-star certified green restaurant in 2016. Rathbone actively worked to ensure that more than 90 percent of the cleaning chemicals used in Rathbone are “Green Seal” certified, concentrated or sustainable, with the purpose of promoting chemical pollution reduction. Rathbone has also installed Xpressnap napkin dispensers to curb energy and waste. The napkins are made of recycled paper, and the dispenser encourages customers to take (and waste) fewer napkins. Along with these actions, Rathbone implemented measures to save energy (i.e. all lighting was converted to LED) and water (i.e. low-flow faucets were installed), to offer one-third vegetarian dishes at every meal, and to use fresh and local foods in daily meals. The two-star green certification (132 Green Points) earned by Rathbone recognizes the 43 environmental steps taken, including minimizing chemical pollution, reducing waste through recycling, sourcing sustainable food, and conserving energy and water. Through this series of actions, Lehigh promotes environmental sustainability within campus services, facilities and operations, while engaging staff members and students in green actions. Food Recovery Network (entire campu, 2016): Lehigh Dining Services and Sodexo are implementing new programs and using technology to minimize post-consumer waste and leftover food. The Federal Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act has allowed Lehigh Dining to donate leftovers to local food banks through its new food recovery system. The steps and procedures used to limit waste begin before food is produced. At Rathbone, meals are made in batches and statistics are used to anticipate the amount of food that will be consumed. The Good Samaritan Act now allows Lehigh Dining Services to recollect food prepared for consumption and donate the food to the food recovery network.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.