It's Not Easy Being Green (But at Least We Are Trying)

It seems like everyone is always talking about “going green”, but what does that really mean? At Campus by the Sea it means that we are becoming better stewards of all that God has given us, including Santa Catalina Island. We are taking steps in every area to conserve resources and reduce the amount of trash we create.

Our Crew has installed low flow shower heads that use only 1.5 gallons of water per minute. In addition we use waterless urinals that help reduce our water usage by 40 000 gallons of water per year. We no longer purchase single use bottles of glass cleaner or cleaning sprays. Instead we are using a bulk system that uses reusable spray bottles. We are also choosing to use other products that are no longer individually wrapped. Instead we shop for and use products that provide large amounts with little wasteful packaging.

We have recently installed a new low phosphorous dishwasher that uses 1 less gallon of water per cycle for a savings of up to 12 740 gallons per year. In addition, it uses packaging that reduces the amount of packaging waste by 97%.

We prefer not to use disposable plates, cups and cutlery, but for certain events we simply must. To eliminate the use of Styrofoam products, we are encouraging our guests to come with their own refillable water bottles. But we also offer paper water cups that are made with a minimum of 50% renewable resources and are compostable. Our new paper coffee cups are approved by the Biodegradable Products Institute and are made with 100% renewable resources and are compostable. Our paper plates are made with Bagasse (sugar cane) and bamboo which are 100% renewable and compostable. We are about to receive disposable cutlery that is manufactured with 70% renewable resources including plants and starches. Our paper napkins contain 100% recovered paper fiber and 40% post recycled materials and meets the Green Seal™ environmental standard for bleaching, deinking, and packaging.

Continuing to be true stewards of our Lord’s creation takes time and quite frankly is expensive, but we as a ministry are committed to taking steps and considering possibilities in this area with every decision we make. Should you have any further suggestions as to how we can continue to transform this ministry, please contact us.

Written by Chef D’Arcy