Columbia University Housing

You can practice environmental stewardship even after you step out of your residence hall.  Keep in mind these ways to be green in the way you eat and drink:

• When you’re in any Columbia building, look at the bin you’re dumping in!  There should be separate waste bins everywhere for paper, bottles and cans, and regular waste, so toss your trash accordingly.  If you notice a bin is missing, contact the Facilities Service Center at (212)854-2222.  

• Become part of a larger urban local food movement by joining the local Community Supported Agriculture group, started by CU students.  Member participants pay a lump sum for a full or half season’s share of fresh, local, and/or organic produce delivered right next to campus.  For more information about CSA in New York City, updates on the local food movement, and how to become a member, check out the JustFood website.
  
  
• For the late-night munchies, you can buy (mostly) healthy, organic food at the student-run food co-op in JJ’s Place.  Check them out at night from 6:00pm to 2:00am in the basement of John Jay, where you’ll find everything from cereal to dried mangos, soymilk to soda. To get more involved, sign up as a volunteer and get a membership discount.  The co-op is always open to new suggestions and members, and also offers a radical lending library of books for use in JJ’s Place as well.
  
  
•  Ahh, the joy of coffee.  Make your coffee purchase especially gratifying by choosing Blue Java coffee at any of the Columbia dining locations. They only serve Fair Trade and organic certified coffee, and Rainforest Alliance-certified espresso drinks – and while you’re at it, bring a reusable mug that won’t create waste.  Blue Java mugs are available for $8.79 at Butler Cafe, Café 212, and Blue Java Dodge, and you get coffee refills at a discounted $1.15 when you use them on campus.
  
  

• All in-house prepared cold food at Columbia Dining establishments is sold in containers made of NatureWorks PLA, a 100% biodegradable product made from corn.  So feel good about taking out that salad!
  
  
• Look out in John Jay Dining Hall for locally sourced fruits, veggies, eggs, and tofu, and dig in!  These foods support the local economy, are fresh and delicious, and use less energy in transportation.  (Check out the student-run Food Sustainability Project to get more involved in the local food movement.)
  
  
• Speaking of John Jay, watch your waste – and your waistline – by only getting as much food as you will eat.  Unused food that you don’t put on your plate can be donated to City Harvest.
  
  
• Columbia Dining Services is doing altogether great things for campus environmental stewardship.  Check out their green initiatives page.