Home News & Features ARAMARK Sustainability Interns Make Positive Impact

ARAMARK Sustainability Interns Make Positive Impact

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PHILADELPHIA—ARAMARK hired 17 young professionals for the 2012 ARAMARK Environmental Sustainability Internship Program. The program provides participants with hands-on job experience as they help implement environmental solutions for ARAMARK clients at schools, universities, businesses and other locations in the United States and United Kingdom.

In partnership with the Student Conservation Association (SCA), ARAMARK engages young people who are interested in careers that have a positive social and environmental impact. The young people also gain a practical understanding of how environmental sustainability operates within a business environment.

“We recognize that our workforce is evolving and changing and we are looking at ways to better engage young people by designing career opportunities around our shared interests,” said Kathy Cacciola, ARAMARK senior director of Environmental Sustainability. “Today’s generation want to be connected to issues and concerns they care about such as corporate responsibility and environmental sustainability. Through this program, we are tapping into their enthusiasm and sustainability expertise to help implement client solutions in this area.”

Interns Focus on Multiple Aspects of Sustainability

The 2012 class of ARAMARK Environmental Sustainability Interns are working at client locations for a period of six to nine months from Florida to Alaska, and in the United Kingdom, in a variety of different business settings, including Denali National Park (Alaska), Asilomar Conference Grounds (Calif.), Virginia Commonwealth University, and Providence School District (R.I.). The interns are focusing on multiple aspects of environmental sustainability, such as purchasing, energy and water conservation, building operations, and waste management.

The ARAMARK interns help implement a variety of initiatives including increasing sustainably sourced foods, reducing energy use at ARAMARK client locations, minimizing food waste at its source, composting excess food waste, and minimizing use of bottled water. Several interns have been hired into permanent positions at ARAMARK, incorporating environmental practices and infusing corporate responsibility into jobs such as purchasing manager and registered dietitian that are not thought of as “traditional” environmental jobs.

“Sustainability is not just good for the environment, it’s also good for business and essential to our future,” said Jamie Patten, senior vice president of marketing for SCA. “The fact that many of the first-year ARAMARK interns have already been hired into full time jobs with the company and other corporations is indicative of the program’s genuine value and the important need these interns are fulfilling.”

SCA, which is commemorating 55 years of youth service and stewardship, has extensive experience in recruiting young professionals for environmental internships, and helps ARAMARK identify and select the interns. SCA is helping to create professional paths for young adults to multiply their environmental impact, address modern workforce development needs, and provide a competitive advantage to interns entering a tight job market.

In addition to the 15 interns hired in the United States in partnership with the SCA, ARAMARK also hired two young professionals in the United Kingdom.

Go to ARAMARK.

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