Update: Food waste on campus is down
As most everyone knows, when classes started up this semester we began monitoring the uneaten food being returned to our dishroom after each meal. Our reasons for monitoring our waste is based upon the fact that energy used to produce food that is wasted in the U.S. (3 percent of total U.S. energy) roughly equals the total carbon footprint of Bangladesh, a country of 150 million people.
Using the week of Jan. 18 as our baseline, we averaged 6.14 ounces of waste per meal served. With the week of Feb. 20 just completed, the average waste generated has dropped down to 3.94 ounces per meal served, a reduction of 36 percent.
Great job to everyone! Let’s keep it up, as every reduction means less waste going to our landfills.
Denny Lawrence,
Bon Appetit