Look closely at the image and you will see reusable containers in use in the wild at our Newcomb campus. Reusable cups and containers can also be found at the ESF Syracuse campus and  Ranger School. They make low-waste field work a breeze and are part of ESF’s push to rid campus of single-use plastics (and single-use products in general). 

Reuse Program at Trailhead (in a nutshell)

Background
The Trailhead Café on the Syracuse campus re-launched its reusable container program in Spring 2023, following many pilot launches and revisions over the last few years. Prior to this relaunch, reusable clamshells and soup cups were made available to the campus community, alongside single-use compostable clamshells.

Problem
It was our hope that most community members would opt to use the reusable containers, but less than 2% of Café orders used the containers and we found that many customers ordered their food to go in single-use compostable clamshells and then ate in the Café concourse. 

Research
The Office of Sustainability enlisted the help of EWP 407 Writing for Environmental & Science Professionals students to survey campus to better understand why reusable containers were not more heavily used.

Streamlined Solution
Working in collaboration with Trailhead Café operators, we streamlined the reusable container return process to link containers to ESF/SU ID cards. Signage located in the Café and on containers themselves explain the return process. If someone fails to return three separate reusable containers, they will be assessed a fee and/or be charged $.75 for a compostable clamshell and $.50 for a compostable soup container. Café customers without an ESF/SU ID will be charged these fees for use of compostable containers. 

Reusable clamshells and soup cups are the default to-go container option for the campus community eating at the Trailhead Cafe, with limited exceptions. We expect this to drastically reduce the cost of containers and composting.