Second Nature to Support Sodexo Sustainability on Campuses

8/19/2009

Foodservice and facilities leader works to achieve common goals with nonprofit.

GAITHERSBURG, Md., August 19, 2009 -  Sodexo, a leading food and facilities management company, will partner with Second Nature, a nonprofit that catalyzes sustainability strategies for higher education. Second Nature will enhance Sodexo's groundbreaking work in sourcing food locally, reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and minimizing waste. 

"Sodexo shares Second Nature's vision of accelerating sustainability on college campuses," said Tom Post, president of Sodexo Campus Services. "We look forward to benefiting from each other's expertise and helping our clients - colleges and universities across the country - to achieve their goals of being excellent stewards of the environment through their actions today and by developing tomorrow's leaders." 

Second Nature is the lead supporting organization of the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment and provides sustainability advice and training to the National Association of College and University Business Officers, the National Association of College Auxiliary Services and others. Second Nature will provide training and guidance to Sodexo managers working to achieve the company's sustainability programs. 

"If colleges and universities are serious about their commitment to sustainability, they need to look at the dining facility and its food, waste and energy use," said Randy Settimio, president of Sodexo Education Facilities Management. "Second Nature will help us collaborate to make the most of our sustainability efforts." 

Sodexo is a diamond sponsor of the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).  The presidents of 650 colleges and universities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia have joined the ACUPCC, a comprehensive global warming initiative through which schools are committing to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions on their campuses -including through dining facilities, dedicating research and programs to the development of climate change solutions, and training their students to address severe climate disruption upon graduation.

"Millions of students at campuses nationwide will benefit from Sodexo's next level of sustainability efforts," said Anthony D. Cortese, founder and president of Second Nature and co-organizer of the ACUPCC. "We are pleased to work closely with such a smart and strategic company and are enormously grateful for Sodexo's generous sponsorship of the ACUPCC." 

Sodexo, Inc.
Sodexo, Inc. is a leading integrated facilities management services company in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, with $7.7 billion (USD) in annual revenue and 120,000 employees. Sodexo serves more than ten million customers daily in corporations, health care, long term care and retirement centers, schools, college campuses, government, and remote sites. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., is a member of Sodexo Group, and funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation, an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $11 million in grants to fight hunger in America.

Second Nature 
Second Nature is a national, Boston-based non-profit organization that serves and supports senior college and university leaders in making sustainability the foundation of all learning and practice in higher education. In addition to providing primary support for the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, Second Nature manages the Advancing Green Building in Higher Education initiative and the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium.