Sustainability

Williams Dining is committed to sustainability — from where we get our food to how we handle our waste.

• Dining Halls partner with Local Food Producers

  We’re always looking for ways to provide fresh, nutritious food while making less of an impact on the environment. By purchasing local produce, dairy products, maple syrup, and other locally-produced foodstuffs, we reduce the emissions from trucking long-distance and provide shorter "farm to table" times. In addition, special meals – such as Meatless Mondays, vegan stations and grills, and ethnic-themed meals – focus on eating healthier.

  These are some of our local suppliers:

  • Highlawn Dairy, Lee MA: Brown XL Eggs, Milk, and Cream
  • Ioka Valley Farm: Maple Syrup
  • Paradise Farms: Apples, Squash, and Honey
  • Maplebrook Farm: Mozzarella and Feta Cheese
  • Marty’s Local: Little Leaf Lettuce, Potatoes, Baby Spinach, and  Miscellaneous Produce
  • Wyman Blueberries:
  • Bulich Farm Mushrooms, NY State: Portobello Mushrooms, White Mushrooms, and Shiitake Mushrooms
  • Gammelgarden: Yogurt available at Eco-Café
  • Cabot Cheese: Sweet Cream and Salted Butter , Cheddar Cheese, and Sour Cream
  • Sand Springs Spring Water: 5 Gallon jugs for Events
  • Green Mountain Creamery: Individual and Bulk Yogurts
  • Cabot Cheese: Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream, and Cheddar Cheese
    

• Lean Path

  Lean Path: The industry’s first and only automated food waste tracking system; found in hospitals, colleges and universities, restaurants, and other food service operations across the U.S. and beyond. It’s helped customers cut food waste by as much as 80%; and run greener, more sustainable operations. Williams has both pre and post-consumer waste tracking programs that weigh daily food waste.

• Green Certifications

  • Green Restaurant Association
  • Paresky-Whitmans
  • Paresky-Fresh n Go 
  • Paresky-Lee Snack Bar
  • Paresky-82 Grill
  • Driscoll
  • Mission Park

• Zilkha Center for the Environment

  Zilkha Center for the Environment (ZCE) oversees campus sustainability efforts, manages Hopkins Memorial Forest in partnership with a committee of researchers and other stakeholders, offers time-honored co-curricular initiatives such as the student summer grant program, Log Lunch, and Maple Fest, and is the administrative home of the Environmental Justice Clinic.

  Protecting the environment and building sustainable societies and economies takes all of us. The ZCE works to achieve Williams College's strategic sustainability goals. We emphasize engaging students in this work and—through our co-curricular programs and management of the Hopkins Memorial Forest—extend the opportunities for experiential learning, applied research and community engagement beyond our campus borders. Please visit the Sustainable Food section of the ZCE website for more information.

  • Find a Drop off Location to return your Dining Service Ware

  

  Here's where to drop them!