The USU is committed to a sustainable future for our campus community and has made commitments ensuring sustainability is embedded into everything we provide – from our events and cafés to our student programs and facilities.

Here is a list of what we are doing so far:

•  Our coffee is Rainforest Alliance Fairtrade supplied by Vittoria Coffee and $1 from every bag sold goes directly to Oz Harvest

•  All ticketed events we run on campus are sold via Humanitix

•  We manage and provide USYD Food Hub at Level 3 Wentworth Building to support our student community

•  We are have a full ban of balloons at Festivals

•  We have eliminated plastic straws in our bars and outlets and only offer #iamnotplastic straws on request

•  We have eliminated 80% of plastic bottle waste in our outlets where we now use The Juggler milk tap system

•  We use Biotrem & BioPak compostable tableware exclusively via our USU eats Food Truck

•  We always provide a minimum 50% plant based options via our USU eats Food Truck and are looking to introduce Meat Free Monday’s at Courtyard 

•  We are moving all single use packaging in our outlets to BioPak compostable solutions 

•  We offer a discount of 50 cents when you BYO a bowl at Courtyard, Abercrombie, Carslaw and Laneway

•  USU Rewards members get 35 cents when they BYO a cup or mug

•  We have a mug wall at Courtyard where customers may borrow a reusable cup

•  We provide a container deposit scheme in 4 key buildings to capture bottles and cans

•  We have introduced a coffee ground reuse program at our outlets

•  We have installed a Farmwall micro-green wall at Courtyard

•  We have partnered with Bring Me Home to provide a comprehensive Food Rescue program

•  We have partnered with Planet Ecologica to transition all paper-based products to industry first IAMNOTPAPER products

•  We offer USYD Frank Green reusable cups and UNTRASHY reusable straws at an affordable price

•  We support and donate to Oz Harvest

•  Regular volunteer days with Oz Harvest and Eat Up Australia

•  We are working to phase out most single use plastics in our retail venues 

•  Our USYD Hoodies are 100% Ethical Australia sourced 

•  Our bars operate with zero plastic and provide a reusable cup deposit system

•  Our bread is supplied by the Bread and Butter Project, Australia’s first social enterprise bakery

•  We have committed to City of Sydney’s Zero Waste Sydney Single Use Plastic Pledge

•  We have committed to City of Sydney’s Love Food Sydney project

•  We are partnering with Sydney Environment Institute, Plate It Forward and FoodLab Sydney to introduce a Community Kitchen & Sustainability Hub on campus 

•  Introduced a community recycling collection hub within Level 2 Wentworth Building