Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 73.88
Liaison Audrey McSain
Submission Date March 20, 2023

STARS v2.2

Lehigh University
IN-8: Dining Services Certification

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 0.50 Kady Huizenga
Director of Rathbone Dining
Dining Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Is at least one on-campus dining hall or food service outlet certified by one or more of the following organizations?:
Yes or No
Food for Life (Food for Life Served Here award) ---
The Food Recovery Network (Food Recovery Verified) No
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) ---
Nordic Swan ---
Responsible Epicurean and Agricultural Leadership (REAL) ---
Sustainable Restaurant Association (Food Made Good, Two Stars or higher) ---
An equivalent third party certification approved by AASHE ---

Approximately what proportion of on-site food service outlets (by location or sales) are third party certified?:
50 percent or more

A list or brief description of each certified dining hall or food service outlet, including the certification earned:

Two Star Green Restaurant Association (Rathbone dining, 2016):
Lehigh University supports 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.

Lehigh University is also a Food Recovery Network (Food Recovery Certified) university


Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable dining certification program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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.