Pitt Eats' USEFULL reusable container program has grown fast in its first year and a half, and this fall it expanded to more locations across campus, putting Pitt ahead of schedule on one of the Pitt Sustainability Plan goals.
USEFULL launched in January 2025 as a stainless steel replacement for the green plastic to-go containers used at Pitt's residential dining halls. Since then, participation has taken off. Checkouts increased by 227% between January 2025 and January 2026, and the program has now recorded more than 17,600 container checkouts total. According to USEFULL's calculations, that use has helped conserve more than 50,000 gallons of water, divert over 1,800 pounds of waste, and prevent more than 5,700 pounds of emissions.
Growing the Program
This academic year, Pitt Eats expanded USEFULL to additional retail locations across campus. Students, faculty, and staff can now check out reusable containers at all Pitt Eats dining locations in the William Pitt Union, as well as at Forbes Street Market for deli case, soup, and coffee.
To keep the return process convenient as the program grows, Pitt Eats also added new return stations at the Schenley Cafe in the William Pitt Union and the Litchfield Tower C lobby, where containers can be dropped off and sent through campus dishrooms for cleaning.
The expansion has also helped Pitt meet its 2025 Sustainability Plan goal to offer reusable containers at more than 50% of campus dining locations by 2030. By the end of fiscal year 2026, USEFULL had reached 39% of locations. With the start of this academic year, that number passed 50%, putting Pitt ahead of schedule to meet the goal.
USEFULL is also now available to everyone at Pitt, including faculty and staff, not just students.
Get Your Coffee Too!
USEFULL isn't only for food containers. Participants get a 50-cent discount when ordering coffee in a USEFULL cup, and the coffee side of the program has grown at Unwind and Campus Coffee & Tea in Public Health. Since September 2025, that has kept more than 230 single-use cups out of the landfill.
Get Started with USEFULL
Getting set up with USEFULL still takes just three steps:
- Download the USEFULL app from the App Store or Google Play.
- Select University of Pittsburgh as your community.
- Choose your preferred payment method (credit/Apple Pay/Google Pay/Panther Card) to cover any potential late fees.