College to Debut Reusable Takeout Containers

Gustavus Adolphus College will introduce new, reusable take-out containers called GustieWare in its campus dining service this fall. The containers feature a composite material bottom with a clear plastic snap-on lid and are microwaveable and stand up to repeated runs through the kitchen's dishwasher. GustieWare is intended to serve as an alternative to the cardboard take-out boxes that have previously been used in the school’s Market Place takeout operation.

The containers will be given out and no charge, with an "honor system" approach to returns to the kitchen for washing and reuse. The traditional cardboard containers will also be available but will entail a 50-cent charge.

“The college’s annual consumption of cardboard take-out boxes has reached nearly 250,000, which to many of us is recognized as excessive,” says Dining Services Director Steve Kjellgren. “Realizing that not all students, professors, and college staff have the ability to sit down in the Evelyn Young Dining Room for every meal and with a concern about cardboard waste and paper consumption, we have spent a great deal of time during the past 18 months trying to put together a program that would meet the needs of our campus community, meet sanitation codes from the Department of Health, and save some trees in the process.”

Gustavus made an initial order of about 2,250 containers in three different sizes from manufacturer NordicWare.