Case Studies

Introduction

AASHE’s case study library contains hundreds of detailed case studies on a wide variety of higher education sustainability initiatives from faculty development programs to whole campus energy retrofits to community partnerships. All case studies are entered in the annual AASHE Awards Program.

At a Glance

880
Total Resources
472
Organizations
21
Countries
48
U.S. States & Territories
7
Canadian Provinces

Bars in graphs can be clicked to view resources that align with a particular category. Because a resource may be listed under multiple topics and disciplines, graph data may include higher total counts than what is indicated in total resources above.

147 resources

FRESH to Table: A Homegrown Dining Initiative

  • Boston College (MA)

Boston College (BC) seeks to foster the ethical and personal formation of its students to prepare them for citizenship, service, and leadership in a global society. In addition, as a ...


The Community Action Center Project: Where Food Shelves Meet Carbon Offsets

  • Carleton College (MN)

In the city of Northfield, MN, uneaten food typically ends up as waste in the landfill. As this food decomposes, it releases methane—a greenhouse gas far more potent than ...


"Food Waste Prevention Week"

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

The University of California, Merced's (UC Merced) Sustainable Food Programs is focused on and committed to surplus food recovery, food waste awareness and prevention, food security and more. UC ...


Food Waste to Energy: From Pilot Scale Biogas to Grid Tied CHP on a Campus Farm

  • Dickinson College (PA)

The Dickinson College Farm is culminating a multi-year project to convert campus food waste to sustainable energy through a grid-connected biogas system. Biogas is a carbon neutral, renewable alternative to ...


USC’s Single-use Plastics Elimination – Beverage Bottles Policy

  • University of Southern California (CA)

The University of Southern California (USC) established the Single-use Plastics Elimination – Beverage Bottles Policy in July 2022, prohibiting the purchase or use of single-use plastic beverage products across the university ...


Earth Fest

  • University of Wisconsin-River Falls (WI)

Earth Fest, a free and inclusive community celebration of the past, present, and future sustainability efforts in River Falls and the surrounding area. This family friendly event was held for ...


Waste Management Education and Procedural Improvements at a Residential Dining Facility

  • Wake Forest University (NC)
  • Harvest Table Culinary Group (PA)

Sustainability features are only as effective as their operators. While the second largest dining facility at Wake Forest hosts several sustainability features, the compost program was lacking in strength due ...


Choose to Reuse

  • Boston University (MA)
  • ARAMARK at Boston University

Boston University’s Choose to Reuse program, offered at seven retail dining concepts in the George Sherman Union, provides students staff, and faculty the choice between ordering their meal on ...


The Working Farms Fund: Partnership to Build a Sustainable Local Food System and Support a Diverse New Generation of Farmers

  • Emory University (GA)
  • The Conservation Fund (GA)

Emory University has partnering with the national non-profit The Conservation Fund (TCF) to support a diverse new generation of farmers in rural Georgia and help build the local food supply ...


Tiffany Jurge plans Soup and Substance collaboration with SCITC

  • Central Michigan University (MI)
  • Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College (MI)

Central Michigan University (CMU) presents Soup and Substance events through the Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (OIDEI) for students, faculty, staff and community members. Soup and Substance events ...


Soup and Substance: Anishinaabek Food Sovereignty

  • Central Michigan University (MI)
  • Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College (MI)

Central Michigan University (CMU) presents Soup and Substance events through the Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (OIDEI) for students, faculty, staff and community members. Soup and Substance events ...


Meghan VanDamme leads composting initiative at CMU

  • Central Michigan University (MI)

Meghan VanDamme and Central Sustainability collaborated with Facilities Management and CMU Residence Life to erect a compost drop-off at Northwest Apartments. The drop-off promotes sustainability by offering an opportunity for ...


Diverting Food Waste and Educating the Campus Community with Solar Powered Compost Kiosks at Illinois State University

  • Illinois State University (IL)

The Illinois State University Compost Kiosks provide a model for other institutions in diverting food waste and reducing single-use plastic while educating and engaging the campus community in the act ...


UMass Dining Carbon Rating System

  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (MA)

Announced on Earth Day, 2022, and in partnership with My Emissions, UMass Dining, the nation's award winnning and largest higher education internally operated dining program, has launched an A-E ...

  • Posted Jan. 10, 2023
  • Case Studies
  • View more

Food Justice Fellowships - Rooted in Community

  • Saint Mary's College of California (CA)

Food insecurity is defined as the state of being without reliable access to sufficient affordable and nutritious food. Food insecurity in the San Francisco Bay Area (and our state, country ...

  • Posted Sept. 20, 2022
  • Case Studies
  • View more

We Feed Aggie Animals

  • Texas A&M University (TX)
  • Chartwells Higher Education (NY)

Texas A&M Aggie Dining launched a new "We Feed Aggie Animals" food waste initiative to enhance goals of eliminating food waste while supporting the campus community. Starting in January 2022 ...


Contactless Food Box Deliveries: Driving Down Food Insecurity

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

The University of California, Merced (UC Merced) launched the Contactless Food Box Delivery Program in December 2020 which continues to this day. 5-10 boxes are delivered every week to those ...


Creating Effective Waste Bin Signage

  • University of Texas at Austin (TX)

A University of Texas at Austin Zero Waste Working Group used a comprehensive process including signage studies, waste composition data, and a progression of testing to design a new campus-wide ...

  • Posted March 10, 2022
  • Case Studies
  • View more

Williams College Reusable To-Go Ware Case Study

  • Williams College (MA)

This reusable container program was rolled out when students returned to campus in the Fall of 2020 and was proposed with both sustainability and cost savings in mind. What differentiates ...


Place Setting: Enhancing sustainable approaches to food security & community engagement through design of space

  • University of Kentucky (KY)

The Campus Kitchen at the University of Kentucky (CKUK) is a student-led service organization that is a partner agency of God’s Pantry Food Bank within the Feeding America’s ...


Reducing Scope Three Carbon Emissions Through Behavior Change & Menu Labeling

  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)

In October 2020, UC Berkeley’s Cal Dining implemented carbon emission labels to better inform customers about the carbon impact of the recipes served in the dining hall. Student researchers ...


Cascadia Cornucopia Food Forest as a prototype for food permaculture areas on campuses

  • Cascadia College (WA)

The Cascadia Food Forest is an example of an integrated learning project at Cascadia College. It was designed to facilitate learning opportunities outside the classroom. The food forest is a ...


The People’s Fridge- A Community Fridge to Reduce Food Insecurity and Food Waste

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

The People’s Fridge is a community fridge in Merced, California at a local community garden which also holds a free food distribution every Saturday called the Pop-Up People’s ...


Addressing Food and Housing Security among NC State University Students

  • North Carolina State University (NC)

Since February 2018, when a report on student hunger and homelessness on NC State University's campus was released, the campus community has generated increased resources for students, conducted ongoing ...


How Brandeis reduced our food carbon footprint over 20% in its first sustainable dining program

  • Brandeis University (MA)

This case study reviews how Brandeis harnessed the RFP and contracting process for a new dining vendor in 2019-2021 to make huge and first-ever strides in sustainability in our dining ...


Planting the Pond

  • Western Dakota Technical College (SD)

For this project, Western Dakota Tech formed an interdisciplinary team comprised of Environmental Engineering, Controlled Environment Agriculture, Electrical Trades, Computer-Aided Design, and Farm and Ranch Management students to design and ...


Bennington College Commons Renovation

  • Bennington College (VT)
  • Efficiency Vermont (VEIC) (VT)

Bennington College’s Commons building is the original center of its 1932 campus plan. This 45,120 square-foot renovation is the first substantial upgrade to the building since its inception ...


North Texas Food Policy Alliance

  • University of Texas at Arlington (TX)

What are Food Policy Councils/Alliances? The first Food Policy Council started 30 years ago in the city of Knoxville. In the last decade Food Policy Councils (also called food ...

  • Posted April 21, 2021
  • Case Studies
  • View more

UCCS Food Next Door | Farm Subscription Program

  • University of Colorado Colorado Springs (CO)

The Food Next Door Farm Subscription Program strives to help fight hunger, promote food access, boost food literacy, and support regional farmers and ranchers in our community.

  • Posted April 21, 2021
  • Case Studies
  • View more

SUNY New Paltz Pivots from Plastic Bottles to Aluminum Cans to Move Beyond Plastics

  • State University of New York at New Paltz (NY)

In the fall of 2020, Campus Auxiliary Services (CAS), which contracts on behalf of SUNY New Paltz for beverages to be distributed through vending machines and the dining services contractor ...

  • Posted Feb. 24, 2021
  • Case Studies
  • View more

Reusable to-go Program at Northwestern Dining During a Global Pandemic

  • Northwestern University (IL)
  • Chartwells Higher Education (NY)
  • Compass Group (NC)

Northwestern University opened its dining commons during the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall of 2020 with an emphasis on reusable to-go service ware. This program used the O2GO OZZI containers ...


Housing Sustainability Assistants - Compost Pilot

  • Carnegie Mellon University (PA)

Carnegie Mellon University’s Housing Sustainability Assistants team supported a 4-week composting pilot within on-campus housing to ensure successful composting implementation in the future. The student team was tasked with ...


Sustainable Food and Dining: Swat2Go 2019-2020 Final Report

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

The Swat2Go reusable container pilot program was developed to avoid and reduce waste through the implementation of this reusable container pilot program. Over the course of the last year, this ...


St. Lawrence University Green Café Farm To Table Course

  • St. Lawrence University (NY)

St. Lawrence University's student-run Green café class is a collaborative and multi-stakeholder venture with Dining Services, Seed to Table (student food justice club), undergraduates from across disciplines, and three ...


“#ACGGoesPlasticFree Campaign: ACG Cares for a plastic-free future!”

  • The American College of Greece (Aghia Paraskevi)

The #ACGGoesPlasticFree Campaign is an ongoing project that was launched in July 2018 by the ACG Center of Excellence for Sustainability (CES) which operates under the Office of Public Affairs ...


Pop-Up People's Pantry- Feeding those in need in response to COVID-19

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

The Pop-Up People's Pantry at the 18th St. People's Garden popped up in response to COVID-19 to feed our food insecure community healthy and nutritious food, predominantly fresh ...


No Food Left Behind: A free text service to reduce food insecurity and food waste

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

No Food Left Behind is a free text messaging service that connects students, staff and faculty at the University of California, Merced to events that might have food leftover. People ...


Diversity Food Services: Leading the Way on Socially and Environmentally responsible Campus Dining in Canada

  • University of Winnipeg (MB)

The University of Winnipeg Campus Sustainability Office would like to nominate Diversity Food Services for an AASHE Campus Sustainability Achievement Award.

Diversity Food Services is a joint venture of the ...


TAMU Urban Farm United (TUFU) Campus Food Forest Serves Aggies in Need

  • Texas A&M University (TX)

The TAMU Urban Farm, TUFU for short, is a new concept organization on the campus of Texas A&M University (TAMU), whose mission is “Grow to Serve”. The project was made ...


Addressing Food Insecurity on Campus

  • Colorado State University (CO)

Approximately 10% of students at Colorado State University experience food insecurity. In the past five years, CSU has been aggressively tackling food insecurity through the creation of innovative programs under ...


The Working Farms Fund: Partnership to Build a Sustainable Local Food System

  • Emory University (GA)

Emory University and The Conservation Fund have formed a new partnership to support next-generation farmers in Georgia and help build the local food supply across metro Atlanta with a first-of-its-kind ...


Utilizing Freezers for Compost Collection at Holy Cross’ Student Apartments

  • College of the Holy Cross (MA)

The College of the Holy Cross added compost collection for student food waste in two college-owned apartments, William Hall and Figge Hall. Instead of traditional indoor collection bins, small freezers ...


UVM's Food Values Campaign

  • University of Vermont (VT)

The UVM Eco-Reps program consists of 20 students that are divided up into five community teams, with each team assigned to a specified residential area on campus. Each semester, Eco-Reps ...

  • Posted Feb. 27, 2020
  • Case Studies
  • View more

Frederickson Court Trial Compost System

  • Iowa State University (IA)

With a campus compost facility already in operation, Iowa State University’s Compost Team sought to utilize the facility in more places around campus. The team identified Frederickson (Freddy) Court ...


University of Vermont Eco-Reps Food Campaign Case Study

  • University of Vermont (VT)

The 2018-2019 professional development offering for the UVM Eco-Reps was a symposium centered around food concerns entitled Taking Root Student Symposium. Having been introduced to a wide variety of food-related ...

  • Posted Sept. 24, 2019
  • Case Studies
  • View more

Central College Bee Campus

  • Central College (IA)
  • The Xerces Society (OR)

Central College is a leader in sustainability education, both in Iowa and the Midwest. For more than a century, Central students and staff have prioritized sustainability at the college. After ...


Composting at Northwestern University Norris Center

  • Northwestern University (IL)
  • Real Food Challenge (MA)
  • Compass Group (NC)

The project consists of the successful implementation of a front-of-the-house composting program in Northwestern University's Norris Center food court dining area and the coordination of a series of experiments ...


Fighting Irish, Fighting Food Waste: Converting Food Waste into Energy at Notre Dame

  • University of Notre Dame (IN)

At Notre Dame food and hospitality are integral aspects of campus culture. Over the last three years, two student-centered projects aimed at fighting food waste will allow Notre Dame to ...


Student Leaders Supporting Student Success

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

The Bobcat Pantry serves as a sustainable service addressing food insecurity while combating student huger and malnourishments. The space encourages students to implement health-conscious lifestyles to further their academic success ...


The Good Store

  • University of Northern British Columbia (BC)
  • Prince George Public Interest Research Group (BC)

The Good Store is a low waste shop established on the UNBC campus to provide all members of the community with access to affordable, healthy and sustainable food options. The ...