Collaboration Powers Green Initiatives

In 2020, the University of Chicago set the ambitious goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 50 percent by 2030. Since then, it has made major strides in sustainability—from conserving water to replacing gas-powered university vehicles with electric and hybrid.

Chicago Booth has heeded the call by forming a dedicated committee that’s driving change through projects on energy efficiency, zero waste, and more—with dozens of other green initiatives in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, the Booth Corporate Sustainability Club, a new group for Evening and Weekend MBA students, is helping move the needle, too. In addition to offering career development and networking opportunities for students seeking careers in sustainability, the group organizes educational events and volunteer work, such as beach cleanups, to give back to the community. The club also meets regularly with Facilities staff to share student concerns and prompt dialogue about future improvements.

A key priority for both the club and staff is incorporating more sustainable practices into food service at the Charles M. Harper Center in Hyde Park and the Gleacher Center downtown, in line with a growing trend among college dining facilities across the nation. The eco-friendly efforts, which range from prioritizing compostable packaging and utensils to rethinking how the dining facilities source ingredients, demonstrate the power of collaboration in affecting institutional change.

“As an institution, we are proud to do our part to support sustainable practices across our facilities and food service to reduce waste and improve life on the planet,” says dean Madhav Rajan. “It’s great to see Booth students working with staff to make a difference.”

Reducing Single-Use Plastic

Each year, an estimated 33 billion pounds of plastic enter the ocean, according to the international advocacy group Oceana. Among the waste are plastic straws, silverware, and beverage bottles. That’s why eliminating single-use plastic from campus is a top concern among Booth staff and students.

“The future is going to demand that we’re not using plastic, and that we’re being conscious about what we serve,” says Kari McDonough, Booth’s director of Facilities and a member of the staff sustainability committee. “It’s good for the earth, and it gives students, faculty, staff, and alumni a sense of pride in what we’re doing.”

Booth’s Food Service team is working to eliminate all single-use plastic from the school’s eateries, including Everett Kovler Café and the Opening Bell Café at Harper Center and the Efficient Market at Gleacher Center.

The team stocks eco-friendly compostable silverware, and they’re forgoing single-serve plastic beverage containers in favor of aluminum cans and glass bottles. Wax paper bags are replacing single-use plastic bags in the bakery, while long-term storage boxes are replacing plastic wrap in the deli. The team is also working to eliminate plastic to-go containers, using corrugated fiber boxes with compostable sugar cane lids instead.

Initiatives to remove plastic extend beyond eatery walls, too. Half of the water fountains at Harper and Gleacher include filtered-water dispensers to encourage people to use refillable bottles. The change has allowed the school to do away with plastic water jugs and reduce its reliance on the diesel trucks that delivered them.

The Corporate Sustainability Club identified an additional item to target: single-use coffee cups. Paul Salach, a group cofounder and Evening MBA student, worked with Facilities staff to post signs around the coffee dispensers on campus that encourage students to bring their own cups. The school already gives each student a reusable Yeti travel mug at orientation. Thanks to the signs, Boothies are increasingly relying on them instead of single-use cups.

“It’s nice to have this partnership with the students,” says McDonough.  “They’re very helpful and very excited.”

Prioritizing Local Food Vendors

Another priority for Booth staff and students is using local food vendors since they’re a more sustainable option—they help reduce emissions from transportation while also supporting farms in the area.

Booth chef Justin Daniel and his team from Wolfgang Puck Catering—who serve hundreds of students, staff, and faculty at Kovler every week—source produce, meat, and other products from farms across Illinois and the Midwest. Buying local produce means menus are naturally seasonal, rotated four times a year. “We’re committed to fresh and seasonal products,” Daniel says. “We use organic  produce and naturally raised animals where we can.”

For example, Meats By Linz in Hammond, Indiana, provides most of Kovler’s beef and poultry. Parrfection Produce—which distributes fruits and vegetables from family farms in Wisconsin that  use sustainable Amish farming practices—supplies Booth with staples like carrots, celeries, and onions. The sixth-generation family farm Garwood Orchards in LaPorte, Indiana, provides peaches and berries, as well as the apples students find in baskets outside classrooms—part of an alumni-donor-supported program to give students easy access to nutritious snacks.

“It really comes down to miles traveled and the carbon footprint,” Daniel says.

Booth also has a contract with Chicago-based Capannari Ice Cream to satisfy students’ sweet tooth with small-batch ice creams that are all natural and food-dye-free. Big Shoulders Coffee supplies efficiently roasted beans delivered in recyclable packaging.

Daniel and his team actively track kitchen waste as they work and use veggie scraps to make stock. “This helps create accountability and mindfulness throughout the day,” he says. “As little as possible goes to waste.”