As the home to more than 17,000 undergraduate students, attaining sustainability at UVA is no small endeavor. However, the large number of students here make eco-friendly policies all the more necessary and impactful. From solar panels on top of academic buildings to flyers detailing steps for green living and even classes about global sustainability, UVA has successfully incorporated these initiatives into everyday life. One such place is the dining hall.
On January 29, 2025, a musical jangle announced the arrival of an email in my Outlook inbox. However, the deleted folder was not its immediate destination – this was not the regular spam emails from subscriptions I had yet to turn away from. Sent by UVA Dine, this email informed its recipients about a new sustainable policy regarding the dining halls: Choose to Reuse by ReusePass. A colorful infographic showcased a concise rundown of the program, reusable containers as opposed to the previous disposable ones.
According to the website, “ReusePass is a program that lets diners check out and return reusable to-go containers, reducing resource consumption and diverting single-use containers from landfills.” ReusePass has already been instated at many other universities and colleges including Brown University, Penn State, and Villanova. Users create accounts that allow them to check out a container at any of the dining halls on Grounds. By participating, ReusePass users “save waste from going to landfills, save greenhouse gas emissions from killing the ozone, and save water from being wasted,” making the reusable containers an eco-friendly to-go alternative.
To utilize ReusePass, students simply pull up a QR code on their phone and scan it at the dining halls. In return, they get a reusable container and three days to return it. If they fail to return it in time students will see a late fee on their accounts, incentivizing the return so that the containers can be ready for the next user. There are a number of convenient return locations, none of which require the containers to be scrubbed spotlessly to return. The flexibility and ease of ReusePass allows students to contribute to sustainability efforts and make a positive impact.
Annual food waste in the United States amounts to 92 billion pounds. This equates to approximately “38% of all food […] unsold or uneaten,” which results in over $473 billion thrown out. Not only does food waste take up space in landfills, but discarded food “generates up to 10 per cent of global greenhouse emissions.” It is alarmingly evident that the negative effects food waste are much more than its financial aspect. When food is thrown out, it is not just money that is lost—all of the resources that went into making it are gone as well. Agriculture is responsible for about 70% of worldwide freshwater use. And, while agriculture demands large quantities of water, climate change progressively depletes viable water sources. Many people are unaware of the impact of tossing away food on the environment.
UVA Dine has recognized how vital sustainability is in the food sector. First and foremost, the dining halls are Green Restaurant Certified, which are a set of environmental operating standards done by the Green Restaurant Association. UVA also purchases sustainable meat and seafood, ensuring that ecological measures start at the beginning of food production. All cooking oil gets recycled in addition to composting leftovers when possible. With the introduction of ReusePass, more positive sustainable progress in the dining halls will be made.
Choose to Reuse has already seen remarkable success since its launch. In just three weeks, 3,000 containers were checked out and garnered 1,400 ReusePass users. Most recently, 53,000 pounds of food waste were saved at campuses with ReusePass. With the addition of future users, UVA can continue to add to this number and make a significant impact. Every college student generates an average 142 pounds of food waste per year. On a campus of 17,000, the number is massive. If every student switched to ReusePass, the reduction in waste can be substantial, setting an example for more colleges and universities to follow.
By participating in ReusePass, UVA students have a convenient opportunity to be a part of a change. While individual actions may seem futile, these small decisions add up and accumulate. One person’s food waste does not seem like much, but take into account millions of people wasting food, and then a bigger issue is imminent. The Choose to Reuse program allows students to make a positive contribution by incorporating sustainability in their everyday lives. The change to reusable to-go containers encourages mindful consumption and reduces waste in one fell swoop. The implementation of Choose to Reuse will assist in fostering a campus-wide culture that values sustainability and environmental awareness.
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