Case Study: St. Olaf College

In the college dining world, plastic and waste seem to be an unavoidable part of takeout. But, it doesn’t have to be this way!

After seeing USEFULL in action at Carleton College down the road, St. Olaf students introduced USEFULL to their leadership. Quickly, this led to a partnership between St. Olaf and USEFULL! After their spring break in March 2023, St. Olaf College launched USEFULL to switch from single-use takeout to reusables. In the four months since they took this big step, St. Olaf has avoided a significant amount of waste, water, and emissions. And we’re so impressed! 

Working with St. Olaf has been especially impressive because in just the six weeks between spring break and the end of school, St. Olaf checked out an enormous number of containers! So far, they have checked out a total of 24,151 containers. During the school year, they check out over 380 containers per day – keeping 380 containers out of the landfill every day! In total, over 1,400 St. Olaf students are now active USEFULL users – about half of the student population. And most students opted to sign up with their CBORD campus card. 

St. Olaf’s real-time impact can be found here!

St. Olaf’s savings: 

  • 2,700 pounds of trash (heavier than the weight of 1 car)!

  • 75,603 gallons of water (the same as 4,400 showers)!

  • 8,532 pounds of emissions (the same as driving a car for 1 year)!

  • Loss rate: 0.16%

St. Olaf’s one-year projections: 

  • 89,700 containers checked out

  • 7,966 pounds of trash (heavier than the weight of 4 cars)!

  • 22,307 gallons of water (the same as showering every day for 3.5 years)!

  • 25,040 pounds of emissions (the same as driving from LA to New York 19 times)!

Here’s what students at St. Olaf have to say about USEFULL: 

  • “It is more sustainable, and makes me feel less guilty about getting to go. Also, I like that it keeps my food warm.”

  • “It creates far less waste.”

  • “They are insulated, and keep my food warm for as long as I need it to.”

We’re so excited that St. Olaf has surged ahead and has already checked out so many containers! We can’t wait to see the impacts grow in the 2023-24 school year and beyond.

Case StudyKarlie Hayes