Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Deacon Dining is at the forefront of sustainable sourcing within higher education, prioritizing third-party certified products and supporting sustainably operating small-scale farmers, primarily those within a 250 mile radius of campus. Wake Forest maintains a goal of procuring at least 30% of products, by spend, with verified sustainability claims to promote a more diversified and resilient agricultural system. Learn more about Wake Forest’s food and dining commitments here.

Reducing food waste – long before it reaches our plates – is a top global solution to climate change. At Wake Forest, we take a reduction-first approach, limiting the amount of food waste generated in the first place through strategic ordering, a commitment to culinary excellence, and developing creative recipes that use underutilized and “ugly” produce parts. Wake Foresters can reduce their personal food waste by replicating these same strategies in their own meal preparations. Interested individuals can also sign up for a Too Good To Go account to purchase surplus food from campus retail locations like Smith’s Cafe, Einstein’s, and the 336 Market that would otherwise go to waste if not purchased within a certain time frame. Learn more about our campus’ commitment to preventing food waste before it occurs here.

Yes! The Green Box to-go program is in place at The Pit, North Dining, The Magnolia Room and La Sabrosa. This program allows participants to take meals to go, without creating the waste used with traditional disposable to-go containers. Learn how to participate on Deacon Dining’s website. In 2009, our university community disposed of over 7,000 foam to-go containers each week. Starting in the fall of 2010, Wake Forest implemented the green reusable to-go container system, which has meant much less Styrofoam in our landfills.

There are many ways to get involved with sustainability here at Wake Forest whether you are a student, staff member, or faculty member. Students can get hands-on experience volunteering at the Campus Garden, becoming a peer leader for sustainability through Sustainability Ambassadors or our first-year Sustainability Leadership Group (SLG), applying for an internship with our office, or attending one of the many environment and sustainability guest lectures, film screenings, or special events across campus. Faculty can get help incorporating disciplinary-specific sustainability content into their courses through our Campus Engaged Learning program and by participating in the Magnolias Curriculum Project. Staff members whose work intersects with our Areas for Transformation are often a part of our topical working groups that meet regularly to generate ideas, solutions, and campus sustainability goals. Faculty and staff are also invited to join regular Campus Garden volunteer hours. 

The best way to get started is to sign up to receive our newsletters and follow us on social media (@SustainableWFU). You can also reach out to our office directly via email at sustainability@wfu.edu. We’re here to help you discover and pursue your passion. Check out the many ways you can get involved here.

There are many job resources available to Wake Forest students. Explore our Career Development page to find job boards, upcoming events, and alumni highlights showcasing possible career paths. Current Wake Forest students and alumni are also encouraged to join our Sustainability Career Network to be paired for one-on-one connections based on career interest and receive invitations to virtual group networking events. Members of the network can also join the Sustainability Career Network Hub to connect with one another on LinkedIn and learn about job opportunities. The Wake Forest Office of Personal & Career Development (OPCD) also exists to ensure every Wake Forest student has the tools, resources, and information to navigate the college-to-career transition. Go to the OPCD website to learn about their services for job searching, career preparation, interview practice, and more.

Approximately 25 acres of solar arrays would be needed to offset the university’s electricity demand and eligible roof capacity is not near that size. However, there are a number of solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV) installations on campus that demonstrate the benefits of renewable energy on a small scale, including at North Dining Hall, Reynolds Gymnasium, Hopkins Residence Hall, and the University Activity Space. View the rooftop solar locations on campus in this video. Learn more about our broader commitment to 100% renewable energy here.

The maintenance team checks campus water refill stations on a monthly basis as part of the Preventive Maintenance program. The Wake Forest custodial team also takes note of the filter needs. If you notice the light on your refill station has been red for longer than a week or two, let the custodial team member for your area know so it can be serviced.

Wake Forest implements an annual setback program to conserve energy in unoccupied buildings during the university’s winter break. The program maintains building temperatures at no less than 55 degrees during this period. The heating systems gradually return the building to comfortable conditions by the time they are re-occupied. Since the program began in 2008, the University has saved over $1.5 million in avoided utility costs. Similar setbacks take place in select buildings during other times of the year as opportunities emerge.

This is a common misconception. Custodians are often seen removing bags of landfill waste and bags of recyclables from receptacles on campus and placing them in the same cart or truck. The key is in the color. Trash cans are lined with black bags, while recycling bins are lined with clear or translucent bags. The bags are brought to a centralized location on campus where they are sorted by color, ensuring that they end up going to the correct facility. Contamination from non-recyclable items is a major problem plaguing the recycling industry and forces a significant amount of recyclable material to be sent to the landfill. Sorting is a vital part of the recycling process and something every Wake Forester can help with. The items accepted for recycling vary by area; please make sure you know how to properly put waste in its place on campus and follow the labels for “paper,” “cans & bottles,” and “waste.”

In terms of Wake Forest’s waste generation and environmental impact, Rolling the Quad pales in comparison to many other practices. That being said, throwing rolls of toilet paper into the trees is certainly wasteful and puts the burden of cleanup on Facilities staff. With respect to the health of the trees, both the Landscaping Services staff and the University Arborist have confirmed that there is no correlation between the practice of Rolling the Quad and tree health.

Every year, Wake Foresters come together to help students divert move-out waste through the Deacs Donate program. Students are encouraged to plan ahead and identify what they plan to keep and reuse and what can be donated. Since the initiative began in 2010, Deacs Donate has given over 200 tons of donations to Goodwill and other non-profit charities. By partnering with Goodwill, Wake Forest diverts move-out waste from the landfill while giving back to the community.

Wake Forest is a very walkable campus with a robust shuttle system and car and bike-sharing programs, reducing the need for personal vehicle. 

• Get your steps in: All academic buildings and dining locations can be reached on foot from campus residence halls in about 10 minutes or less. 
• Ride the Wake Line: Wake Forest operates a network of university-owned shuttles that are available to all members of the campus community at no added cost. Different shuttle lines take students to popular shopping areas, Wake Downtown, various apartment complexes, Wake Forest athletics venues, and more.
• Hop in a Zipcar: If you want access to a car, we have you covered! Wake Forest maintains a partnership with a car-sharing program called Zipcar that allows students to rent a car for hours or even a day. Zipcars are parked on campus right in front of the first-year residence halls on Gulley and are available 24 hours a day. Rates include gas and insurance. Students can register here.

Get a semester-long loaner bike: Want to get around on two wheels? Sign up for Wake Forest’s ReCycle bike sharing program to loan a bike for the semester. If you do plan to bring your own bike, be sure to bring a lock to secure it in designated bike racks on campus.

Yes. Wake Forest University encourages faculty and staff to share the ride to and from campus in an effort to reduce reliance on single-occupancy vehicular travel. Transportation and Parking Services offers a carpool program. Members of a carpool agree to forfeit their individual parking permits and are issued one carpool hangtag, at no cost, to be exchanged between drivers. Learn more about carpooling at Wake Forest on the Transportation & Parking Services website and read our blog post to learn more about the benefits of carpooling.

Yes. There are charging stations located at: Byrum Welcome Center, Deacon Place, Gulley Drive, Parking Lot A, Parking Lot Q, Parking Lot U2, Parking Lot W1, Parking Lot Z2 (sophomore parking lot), Parking Z5 (first-year student parking lot), and the University Corporate Center (UCC). You can view the locations on the campus map (select “charging stations” under parking to view the locations). Charging stations are locked, but can be activated in various ways; the easiest way is to download and use the ChargePoint mobile app. Learn more about EV charging on campus on this page.

T-shirts are one of the most commonly distributed items on campus, so we encourage you to consider whether ordering t-shirts is the best way for you to meet your goals. There are many factors to consider when making a clothing purchase, from where and how the fibers are produced to the labor conditions in the factory where the garment is made. We encourage you to do your research and look into companies’ commitments to circularity and the material inputs and outputs of their business, including water use, waste, dyeing and production processes. While there are a number of environmentally responsible vendors to choose from, one of our favorites is Certified B-Corp TS Designs, located in Burlington, NC as they produce shirts made with organic, USA-grown cotton and water-based inks. Another is Recover Brands, located in Charlotte, NC, which creates t-shirts out of third-party certified materials, including recycled PET and cotton and USDA certified organic cotton, and operates a circular take back program called 360° Closed Loop.

Rather than spending your budget on products that are likely to end up in a landfill, consider your audience and offer an experience instead of an item. We recommend experience-based prizes, like tickets to a Wake Forest sporting or arts event, Deacon Dining dollars, or gift cards to local restaurants and shops. Recognition, like a certificate, inclusion of a guest’s name on a plaque, etc. can also be used to celebrate individuals in a unique and low-waste way. If you do decide to order any merch or “swag”, limit the scope of your order to useful, durable items, and prioritize items made from post-consumer recycled content. Use our “sustainable swag” purchasing guide to walk through a decision tree before you place an order.

We understand it can be difficult to sort through years’ worth of documents and mementos if you are preparing to move offices, leave, or retire from the university. As you organize your things, we recommend you group them into categories for you to keep, donate, recycle (pay special attention to e-waste!), and throw away (as a last resort). You can place a work order for extra trash, recycling, or blue bins for usable items to be brought to surplus or donated. Speak with your supervisor or department head to see if the furniture can remain for the next occupant or if it needs to be brought to surplus and review Facilities’ Relocation Guide for more information when moving offices on campus.

It’s important to keep electronic waste (e-waste) out of our landfills. E-waste often contains heavy metals that can leach into the ground and water supplies. A number of Electronics Recycling collection bins are placed in select locations on campus so that students, faculty, and staff can deposit electronics that no longer work for proper recycling (view locations and the full list of accepted items here). Working WFU-issued technology equipment that does not have a hard drive (e.g. items like monitors, keyboards, etc.) should be returned via the WFU Surplus Property Program to be made available for other departments on campus.
All university-issued computers and technology equipment that do house university data must be returned to Information Systems to be itemized as an asset return. Such items can be returned to the Service Desk (The Bridge) inside ZSR Library. The IS Asset Management team will assess whether returned items are eligible for redeployment on campus, or if they can be recycled through our recycling partner, Synergy. If you have too many items to reasonably carry to the Service Desk, you can email wakeisasset@wfu.edu to initiate a return. Other fixed assets (e.g. office IT equipment) can be transferred with the assistance of Procurement Services.

Empty ink and toner cartridges are considered e-waste and should be placed in the Electronics Recycling bins located across campus (see here for locations). When possible If you have a particularly large quantity, please place a work order to have them picked up and recycled.

The following rechargeable batteries are collected for recycling in the Electronics Recycling cabinets across campus (see here for locations): Lead Acid, NiCad, Lithium, Lithium Iron (NOT Lithium-Ion), and Mercury containing batteries. Once collected, these rechargeable batteries will be handed over to WFU Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) for proper recycling. NOTE: Lithium-Ion batteries are at risk of overheating, creating fire risk, and are not accepted for recycling via the Electronics Recycling bins across campus. Regular alkaline batteries no longer contain mercury and are therefore not considered hazardous waste. Most municipalities and counties advise placing alkaline batteries in the trash.