University of Mississippi
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Students who operate the University of Mississippi’s student-run restaurant, Lenoir Dining, began incorporating sustainable practices into its operations in 2015 in an effort to make improvements before pursuing certification from the Green Restaurant Association. Prior to the GRA audit, which took place in 2018, the students worked with faculty to design menus and recipes that incorporate local, sustainably produced ingredients. The restaurant now regularly features locally sourced items and hosts at least one special event a semester organized around local food. Graduate nutrition students were also instrumental in applying for the GRA certifcation and participated heavily during the audit process. Students have implemented pre-consumer food waste composting and recycling into the restaurant. They have a kitchen garden that they maintain to grow fresh herbs for use in dishes and in the house dressing. The garden is watered using rainwater captured by a rain barrel outside of the restaurant. During the period between 2015 and the GRA audit in 2018, Facilities Management also installed low-flow toilets, LED lighting, low-flow faucets, Energy Star fans, an on-demand water heater, and other efficiency improvements to Lenior Hall where the restaurant is housed. All undergraduate Nutrition and Dietetics and Hospitality Management students earning a degree and all graduate students in the Dietitian Education Program (along with graduate students completing a “fine dining and staff relief” rotation or teaching assistants) are learning first-hand what is required to operate, maintain and improve sustainable restaurant practices on a daily basis because the lab is operated by students in those programs. The GRA certification was awarded in early 2019.

In spring 2019, 34 students enrolled in WRIT 102-Engineers collaborated with the Office of Sustainability to analyze utilization of and contamination rates in recycling bins in select buildings. Student teams created the methodology for collecting data and investigated how best to report it using text and graphics. They prepared reports analyzing the data and made recommendations of how to improve the recycling program. Finally they reflected on their writing process. Overall, students indicated the assignment involved critical thinking and enabled them to engage in writing that benefited others. The project was chosen for a poster session by the UM Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

Beginning in 2017, four environmental engineering students worked under the guidance of civil engineering professor Cris Surbeck to complete UM’s first-ever water footprint. The baseline report, which was completed in summer 2018, included information about on-campus usage of potable water, wastewater, and stormwater, and provided recommendations in each category. To complete the report, students visited the campus wastewater treatment plant, interviewed staff in Facilities Management, Landscape Services, Facilities Planning, and the Office of Sustainability, and analyzed available data. With the remaining funding, one of the students is updating the report for fiscal years 2017 and 2018. All of this information was used to complete the OP 22 and OP 23 STARS sections.