Choose to Reuse
Choose to Reuse today! Ask your retailer for a reusable plate, bowl, mug or cutlery set the next time you buy a drink or meal from participating retailers on the Parkville campus. All used dishes are washed in an industrial dishwasher, so you can rest assured all reusable items are clean, sanitised and safe to enjoy your lunch from – while reducing your waste to landfill!
Reduce the impact of your lunch with the reusable dish service, the Choose to Reuse Plate Program. Simply ask your retailer to serve your meal on a reusable item when ordering on the Parkville campus. Feel good knowing you've cut down on single-use waste.
How to use the service
- Ask your retailer to serve your meal or drink on a reusable dish when you order – all Student Pavilion and ERC retailers have bowls, plates or mugs in stock as well as cutlery.
- Purchase and enjoy your waste-free meal or drink.
- Scrape your plate of leftover food into an organics bin. Only food can go into these bins – all other rubbish must go into either the recycling or landfill bins provided. Visit food organics to find out which organics items are accepted.
- Drop off your used dishes at a drop off station, located at recycling, landfill and organics bins in the Student Pavilion and Doug McDonell.
That's it! Your dishes will be collected and washed by our cleaning team and retailers, ready for the next customer.
By requesting a reusable dish from your food retailer you are helping the University to reduce our collective waste to landfill.
Reuse to stop waste at the source
Did you know that in Australia we throw away approximately 1.9 million tonnes of packaging every year?
For the University of Melbourne to be a leader in sustainable practice we have a target of reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill to 10kg per person by 2025. Our previous goal, of reducing waste to 20kg per person, was met in 2020. This achievement was assisted by the Choose to Reuse Plate Program and staff and students choosing reusables over single-use packaging. As of 2023, 118,836 items were saved from landfill.
Every plastic take-away container you’ve ever used still exists. Imagine how many more you could prevent adding to that number if you never used another, starting today.
Pros:
- No need to carry around your own container
- No need to wash your own dishes
- No contribution to waste
- You can even take your dish away from the Student Precinct and return it on your next visit.
Please remember to return dishes when choosing to reuse. The continual operation of this service relies on the goodwill of our students and staff.
Participating vendors
| Name | Location |
|---|---|
| Roll'd | Ground floor of Student Pavilion (Building 162) |
| Moonfishh | Ground floor of Student Pavilion (Building 162) |
| Passeggiata | Ground floor of Student Pavilion (Building 162) |
| Superfragelistic | Ground floor of Student Pavilion (Building 162) |
| Journeys Cafe by ASRC | Level 4 of Student Pavilion (Building 162) |
| Cosmos | Ground floor of Arts & Cultural (Building 159) |
| PappaRich | Ground floor of Building 168 |
| Zambrero | Ground floor of Eastern Resource Centre (Building 171) |
| Ho Ho's Canteen | Grainger Museum (Building 140) |
| Thailander | Ground floor of Building 168 |
| Rice Workshop | Ground floor of Building 168 |
Book the events kit
The Choose to Reuse Events Kit can reduce waste at your next University of Melbourne event by providing reusable items instead of disposable food and drink packaging. The service is available to staff and student clubs organising events at the Parkville campus for a small hire and washing fee.
For all events, it is necessary to book items at least two weeks in advance.
Booking costs
The University supports the reduction of waste by providing this service, however a hire and cleaning fee will be charged to ensure its continuation. Cost will depend on:
- Number of items required
- Time required to pack, wash and store the re-use items
Complete the hire form to receive an accurate quote. Please read the terms and conditions before booking.
Please note that this kit can accommodate a maximum of 100 attendees. If you expect more than 100 attendees at your event, please contact us at sustainable-campus@unimelb.edu.au. We will determine if we can accomodate for your request.
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Terms and conditions
- This service is available to University of Melbourne staff and student clubs only.
- All requests must be submitted via the booking form at least 2 weeks prior to the event date.
- Costs will apply for excessive loss/breakages, or if additional time is reasonably required. E.g. not returning crockery on time, excessively dirty, etc.
- If an approved request is cancelled less than five business days prior to the activity/event date, costs may be incurred.
- There is no drop-off and collection service for any event. All items must be collected and returned by the hirer to Arts and Culture.
- Items can only be collected/returned between 9am and 5pm Monday-Friday.
- Limits to the number of items may apply based on demand and availability.
- The kit can accommodate a maximum of 100 attendees.
- There will be a charge if items a lost or damaged after an event.
- We reserve the right to not provide the service if operational requirements prevent facilitation e.g. trained cleaning staff are unavailable, event is too large to cater for.
Staff fees
Event size Number of items (not including cutlery) Service hire fee Washing fee Short delivery/collection* (per trip) Micro Less than 100 $30 $0 $20 Small 100-150 $35 $30 $30 Medium 150-250 $40 $40 $40 Large 250-300 $45 $50 $50 Extra large More than 300 $50 $60 $60 * Short delivery includes buildings that are a 5-minute walk or less from the Arts & Cultural Building (159). For deliveries to locations that are more than a 5-minute walk from the Arts & Cultural Building, an additional $2 per minute is added to this price. Please note that these prices are per trip.
** These prices are subject to changes (including weekend rates, and student club discounts, and package deals for recurring bookings).
Choose to Reuse Masterclass
The University of Melbourne recently partnered with Sustainability Victoria to host a Choose to Reuse Masterclass for other universities, food hall operators and permanent market operators to learn how to adopt a reusable system in preparation for the Victorian Government’s Single-use plastics ban.