Making senior living more sustainable

​Making senior living more sustainable
In U.S. senior living settings, eliminating single-use plastics is increasingly seen not just as an environmental gesture but as a smart operational move. When Kisco Senior Living delivered room service meals to residents across its 20 senior living communities, they discovered they were spending more than $170,000 a month on disposable containers and generating more than 3,000 cubic feet of styrofoam waste daily, according to a report from Foodservice Director. But once they introduced a line of eco-friendly, reusable meal containers, their investment paid for itself within just two weeks — and slashed styrofoam waste too.
Still, embedding sustainability in senior dining isn’t easy. Strict infection-control standards, limited recycling infrastructure, staff shortages, and residents ’comfort preferences and health concerns often make change slow. Upfront costs and the need for new workflows can also deter operators.
But a number of senior living communities are providing a model for how it can be done. Juniper Communities, for example, has a Green Canopy initiative that includes collaboration across culinary, housekeeping, and nursing functions, as well as involvement from residents. It has led to the introduction of washable metal cups and spoons instead of single-use plastics for medication, as well as composting bins, LED lighting and energy-smart appliances, and increased digital communications to sharply reduce paper use.