Tea From the Gardens

Are you a tea lover or maybe curious about tea making? Join us at the Resident Gardens for this event where you will get the chance to make tea blends a decorate a tea bag holder. We will be using fresh herbs straight from the Resident Gardens. Details below:

Thursday, November 13
4:30-5:30 pm
Resident Garden @ Segundo (Meet us at Regan Main in case of bad weather)
RSVP here

Sustainable Gifting Event

Get into the holiday spirit sustainably! At our event, you’ll handcraft heartfelt and sustainable gifts like chocolate-in-a-jar, decorate festive postcards, and upcycle items into tailored presents! Bring your creativity and a friend (or two!) for an evening of holiday cheer, crafting, and community. 
For more information, dates & times, see RSVP

Food Waste: The Big Picture

Last week, SHDS Sustainability held the Fall Quarter waste studies at the 3 Dining Commons, where we spent two hours per DC measuring how much post-consumer food waste was generated. These are the results:

• The average amount of edible food waste from the waste study is 2.13oz per person. If you left 2.13oz of food on your plate per meal for a year (3 meals a day for 365 days), that equates to 145.70lbs of food that was grown, produced, transported, and prepared - just to be uneaten. This equals to wasting 35 10-inch pizzas per year!
• We also found that the average amount of liquid waste is 0.93fl oz per person. If you were to leave behind 0.93fl oz for every meal over a year (3 meals a day for 365 days), that would equate to 127 cups of your favorite beverage that someone else could have enjoyed. This is the same as filling -and wasting 31 32-oz bottles of your favorite drink per year.
• 7.20 pounds of napkins waste, or about 1.3 napkins per person.

As part of our Sustainability goals, guided by the University of California Sustainable Practices Policy, we prioritize food waste reduction through active engagement and education with our dining staff about proper waste sorting and initiatives to reduce post-consumer food waste. Here's what the Dining Commons are doing to achieve this:

• Just Ask: Allows guests to customize their plate, e.g., ask for a half portion or no bun.
• Try A Taste: allows guests to sample an entrée before taking an entire serving
• Dining partners with the student run Food Recovery Network who picks up edible surplus food and takes it to Aggie Compass to distribute to local Davis charities.
• Food waste composting: For all the pre and post-consumer food waste.
• Waste audits: In the front of house areas to educate patrons about food waste and in the back of house areas to educate dining staff about proper waste sorting practices.
• Continuous dining at all Dining Commons allows food to be served past the “Breakfast/lunch/dinner period” whenever there are left over portions that helps reduce food waste.
• Strive to replace single-use plastic food ware and food ware accessory items with reusable or locally compostable alternatives in our Dining Commons and Residential Markets.

Want to learn more about Food Waste? Come to tabling!

Come this Wednesday, November 5 to learn more about food waste and what you can do to reduce it! We will be tabling at Cuarto DC from 6:00-8:00pm.

Also coming up:
On Week 7, we will be talking about Upcycling, what it is, and how you can do upcycling to live a more sustainable life.

• Monday, November 10 @ Segundo DC from 6:00-8:00pm
• Wednesday, November 12 @ Tercero DC from 6:00-8:00pm
• Thursday, November 13 @ Cuarto DC from 6:00-8:00pm

National Recycling Day is on Saturday, November 15

On this national day, schools, cities, and environmental organizations come together to promote, teach and celebrate the importance of recycling in the country. As a critical part of sustainability, Student Housing and Dining services would like to encourage everyone to keep recycling everything that can be recycled like paper, glass, aluminum cans, and cardboard while also motivating you to go beyond and upcycle those things that cannot be normally disposed in our recycling bins.

Find our waste guide here for more information about recycling.

Visit the campus Office of Sustainability Recycle A-Z for an in-depth guide here

Join us at the Resident Gardens this week
 

Come to the Resident Gardens this week during garden hours and help us do some garden cleaning  and get the garden beds looking ready for the upcoming winter season.
Also coming up:
Week 7: Companion planting
Week 8: Planting and seeding week

Love Gardening? Join one of our Resident Gardens during garden hours!

Garden Hours are open to all Student Housing Residents living in Cuarto, Segundo, & Tercero. Drop-in for as much or as little time as you like to learn new skills - or put existing skills to use – and meet new people.
No experience necessary! All instructions and tools are provided.

Fall Quarter Garden Hours start this week in the following schedule:
Resident Garden @ Segundo – located between Bixby Hall and the Segundo Dining Commons

• Mondays: 1:00-3:00pm
• Wednesdays: 2:00-4:00pm
• Thursdays: 11:00-1:00pm

Resident Garden @ Tercero – located near the main entrance to Latitude

• Tuesdays: 8:30-10:30am
• Thursdays: 8:30-10:30am
• Fridays: 10:00-12:00pm

Join our Resident Garden Discord Server to meet your fellow gardeners and be the first ones to know about Resident Garden news and events!

Adopt-A-Plot

Residents can also adopt a plot in the Segundo or Tercero garden for one quarter or longer to steward their own garden space. Adopt-a-plotters will have access to garden materials and mentorship. 
If you are interested in adopting a plot, please fill out the Adopt-A-Plot application or visit us during open volunteer hours and speak to one of our Resident Garden Coordinators. 
Visit housing.ucdavis.edu/sustainability/resident-garden for more information about the resident gardens

Stay connected! 

Sign up for the weekly Student Housing and Dining Services Sustainability Newsletter to stay connected with Sustainability and hear about sustainability tips, upcoming events, and more! Sign up at housing.ucdavis.edu/sustainability/newsletter