Crossroads Restaurant in the Oklahoma Memorial Union is undergoing some changes that are making the campus eatery more environmentally friendly.

Food containers made out of recycled material are replacing many of the restaurant’s Styrofoam products.

Some of these changes were first applied after the Spring 2009 semester, but many are still in the process of being implemented.

Kevin Barker, director of retail operations for Housing and Food Services, said the change to recycled-based products is an ongoing effort.

“We are still in the process of swapping out all of the older Styrofoam and non-recycled paper products with newer products made by recycled goods,” Baker said. “Coca-Cola is working to make a new paper cup that is made from recycled paper that we will be offering in the near future.”

New brown paper bags are taking the place of the large Styrofoam containers used in the past for to-go orders, and Styrofoam coffee cups have been replaced by thicker recycled paper cups.

Daniel Ambuehl, geology senior, is a long-standing customer of Crossroads, and said he is happy that the university has made the change.

“I am glad that Crossroads has become more environmentally friendly,” Ambuehl said. “Being able to recycle all the things that used to just be thrown away will greatly help the environment for later generations.”

The changes made to Crossroads are not the first experiment with a more eco-friendly system. Last semester, Housing and Food Services began providing re-usable eco-clamshells that could be purchased and used by students for carrying their to-go orders and leftovers from restaurants around campus.

Lauren Royston, spokeswoman for Housing and Food Services, said the re-usable containers were considered a big hit, and around 50 to 60 units were sold in just a few weeks after they were first implemented.

Royston said Housing and Food Services is very interested in making the campus more environmentally friendly through reducing, reusing and recycling techniques. The new steps that are being taken to make the university more eco-friendly have been thought up by different university employees and some have been taken from some students through their opinions in the Kitchen Comments, she said.

“We have had a very equal opportunity stance with the changes that have been made on campus,” Royston said. “Students’ comments and ideas are looked at, and if they are something that can benefit the university, then they are put forward as an idea.”