By Sustainability Coordinator Jacqui Moy
On October 26th, Emerson’s Sustainability Fellows held our monthly Weigh the Waste event in the Dining Center. As was done in September, Fellows tabled on both floors of the dining hall and set out clear plastic bins to collect diners’ edible food waste, inedible food waste, liquids, and trash, and recycling. The bins were weighed throughout the event and then totals were added up at the end of night.
Overall, our waste for the night totaled 123.5lbs. That’s a 14lb decrease from September! Way to go Emerson! This also led to a reduced waste per diner, decreasing from 2.49oz in September to 2.32oz in October. Here’s a breakdown comparing September and October waste weights (try saying that 10 times fast!) by category:
Generally, our waste decreased in each category this month, with the exception of inedible compost which increased from 8.8lbs to 13.2lbs. This category includes items such as napkins, ice cream bowls, tea bags, paper cups, and wooden stirrers. Keep these in mind next time in the Dining Center and see if you can find any reusable alternatives to these single use items!
Survey responses were in similar proportions to last time, but we only received 33 responses in comparison to September’s 127 responses. When asked why they had leftovers on their plate, around 49% of respondents said they were served too much, 21% didn’t like the food, 15% said they took too much, and another 15% said their food was inedible. Here’s a breakdown of the responses for this month:
Overall, this was a win for Emerson! We love to see a decrease in our overall waste. We’ll be back on November 15th for the last Weigh the Waste event of the semester. Make sure to fill out the survey at the event as we love to hear your feedback! Until then, refer to signage and the shadow boxes in the Dining Center or refer to our Waste Guide if you don’t know what item goes in which bin.