Looking for a way to improve your health and lower your environmental impact this January?
The food we eat can have a major impact on the environment. BU’s Sustainable & Ethical Food Policy commits us to reducing the negative impact of the foods we consume on campus, which is why we are encouraging all BU students to try some new vegan recipes for 2026 and use crockery instead of takeaway packaging.
What is Veganuary?
Veganuary is about raising awareness of the benefits of plant-based eating. It’s not about pushing people to become 100% vegan or shaming people for their food choices. It is about giving individuals the opportunity to experiment with plant-based eating and explore the health and environmental benefits of eating more plants.
How is BU supporting you to make more sustainable food choices?
BU provide vegetarian and vegan options every day in our catering outlets on campus and you no longer have to pay extra for plant-based milks with your hot drink. Chartwells have introduced a Carbon Labelling system, which uses A-E ratings to indicate the carbon intensity of hot food options. We encourage you to use the carbon labels to make more informed choices about the food you consume on campus to support you with your Veganuary goals!
Eating in? Ditch the disposable takeaway food containers
Did you know that takeaway food containers cannot be recycled? This is because once they become contaminated with food, they can no longer be processed for recycling. This means they must go in the general waste bin.
We understand that sometimes you need to grab your lunch and go, however we see hundreds of students and staff eating out of takeaway food containers while sat in our catering outlets. To stop this from happening and reduce waste, from January 2026, when eating in, all customers will be given their meal on crockery as the standard.
Find out more about what BU are doing to reduce waste and lower our food impact on our website.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
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