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GROWING GREEN SSC Services for Education and Chartwells Higher Ed Partner for a More Sustainable Future
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about us Chartwells Higher Ed and SSC Services for Education partner to provide the highest quality dining and facilities services for school communities across the country. Backed by our parent company, Compass Group, we have a wealth of experience and resources to ensure your district’s facilities and food service operations are innovative and designed to meet your exact goals.
SSC Services for Education takes a proactive approach to sustainability to ensure we create a greener future for generations of students to come. We focus on energy, environment, and empowerment in order to innovate our customized programs across all lines of service.
ENERGY Our facilities management programs are built around energy conservation, resulting in cost savings for our partner schools. Through evaluating historical consumption and establishing baseline energy and water usages, we are able to implement customized preventative maintenance plans for buildings and equipment. These plans allow your school to reinvest time and resources, while minimizing environmental impact.
Energy Conservation at Jasper County School District A crucial factor to energy conservation in schools is being future-focused and proactive. Investments and changes made today can provide your school with incredible financial savings, a cleaner environment for students to learn in, and a better environmental footprint. SSC Services for Education has partnered with Jasper County School District for 5 years. In 2019, SSC Services for Education & Jasper County School District unveiled an $8.6 million investment to make significant energy upgrades to the district’s facilities. As a direct result of their trust in SSC and willingness to invest in the future, JCSD is now seeing incredible results that benefit students, the district, and the environment.
ENVIRONMENT Our grounds and custodial teams approach environmental conservation and protection in innovative and resourceful ways. Inside schools, SSC janitorial teams are equipped with a full line of environmentally certified products, including reusable microfiber cloths, green cleaning solutions and more. Outside, you’ll find our grounds teams taking unique approaches to water conservation and purification through rain gardens, increasing biodiversity through intentional planting of native plant species, and utilizing electric equipment to reduce pollution. Rain Garden Management Rain gardens are unique, natural solutions to solve stormwater problems. They provide a cost-effective and environmentally friendly option to slow water and hold it for up to 48 hours, allowing drainage to occur. Brandon Haley, a Grounds Project Manager with SSC Services for Education, oversaw the renovation of a rain garden at Aurora University in 2019 after SSC took over management of the campus. Learn how the SSC team transformed this space into a thriving environment for native plants. Belmont Abbey Composting SSC Services for Education, Chartwells Higher Education and a local environmental collection company work together at Belmont Abbey College to utilize composting to make an impact. Food waste from the dining facilities on campus is collected by a local company, which composts food waste. SSC utilizes compost material from the same company as topdressing on athletic fields at the college.
EMPOWERMENT Creating a greener future requires a constant focus on innovation. We encourage our team members and communities to grow through education, and foster curiosity through training programs, internships, certifications and more. We believe that each of our associates brings a unique perspective to the table, and we encourage everyone to share their ideas and grow through learning. Edible Gardens Edible Gardens are growing in popularity in both personal, professional, and educational spaces. Simply put, edible gardens are gardens that will provide a harvest of fruits, vegetables, herbs, or other edible plants. At the University of ArkansasFort Smith, Grounds Project Manager Brandon Haley led an installation of an edible garden on campus in conjunction with the student garden club. The garden provides a unique educational opportunity to students, who helped install the garden and continue to maintain it by planting and harvesting vegetables and herbs throughout the year. Food produced by the garden is given to local food banks to support the community in and around Fort Smith.
Chartwells believes serving healthy and nutritious food provides a foundation for lifelong learning. We are proud to feed future leaders and understand the immense responsibility we have to nourish our guests’ minds and bodies. We believe that wellness goes beyond our dining halls. To support a well-balanced healthy lifestyle, we create programs that help our guests live life to its fullest. From sourcing our ingredients to preparing our menus, we keep health and wellness at the forefront of everything we do.
TREATING THE WORLD AS IF WE PLANNED TO STAY Sourcing Responsibly Chartwells is committed to sourcing practices that are humane and help to improve the environment. Learn more about our initiatives below: • Non-rBGH Milk and Yogurt • Local Purchasing • Humane Cage-Free Eggs • Sustainable Seafood • Non-Antibiotic Poultry • Supporting the Coalition of Imokalee Workers
Plastics
WasteNot 2.0 We have committed to reducing our food waste by 50% by 2030. Waste Not was the first step but we wanted to take it to the next level and answer any concerns Waste Not users may have today. Built by Chefs for Chefs, Waste Not 2.0 is our proprietary, tablet-based, waste-tracking program designed to change behavior with real-time tracking and dashboard reporting. Waste Not 2.0's easy-to-use interface creates a positive impact by focusing on avoidable waste-reduction opportunities that go beyond trim, bones, cores, and peels.
To further raise awareness of the global issue surrounding wasted food, in 2017, we created Stop Food Waste Day, an international day of action, to share solutions in our cafes and across social media that address food waste at the source and in the home.
WINNING PARTNERSHIPS
We are excited to announce an exclusive partnership with Farmshelf, expanding the presence and use of micro-farms in our campus dining locations nationwide. Each Farmshelf has the ability to produce hundreds of pounds of leafy greens and herbs annually two to three times faster and using 90 percent less water than traditional farming, aligning with our sustainability commitments as we work towards a net-zero future. As students take more and more interest in where their food comes from, these indoor farms invite students to touch, feel and participate in the growing process and take an active role in their dining experience.
Ozzi OZZI is a revolutionary system that eliminates traditional disposable take-out containers for all segments of the food service industry by utilizing enhanced technology. OZZI is designed for college and university campus dining centers as well as all facets of business and industry, health care, hotels, restaurants, food courts, supermarkets, quick service, sports and entertainment venues. Wherever food and beverages are served “to-go” in paper, plastic and/or foam containers, OZZI is making a difference. It is a truly amazing system that is changing America from a disposable society into a nation that is devoted to more sustainable and ecologically minded reusable containers.