By Eco Ambassador Katie Koenig
On Monday, March 20, Emerson’s Eco Ambassadors hosted the third Weigh the Waste event of the 2022-23 school year. Weigh the Waste is held to measure the amount of different kinds of waste students produce during an average dining period in the dining hall, in addition to recording students’ reasons for producing that waste.
Despite the initial discouraging results of waste habits in the dining hall, students meaningfully improved within two months into second semester. Overall waste went down by about 25%. The majority of the general waste each time was edible compost—food products that can still be eaten. Inedible compost, liquids, and trash made up equal parts of the rest of the waste. Edible compost had decreased between the first two Weigh the Wastes by around 30%.
By March 20, students in the dining hall continued the trend of decreasing waste overall, although the amount of edible compost wasted per capita stagnated since February. Total edible compost increased by about 4% since February’s Weigh the Waste event, although the per capita amount has stayed about the same.
This suggests not only that edible compost remains a constant issue of Emerson waste, but also that, even with consistent teachings and publications about appropriate individual waste management, students should remain mindful of their overall and organic waste to continue reducing it.
Looking at the survey responses, one of the main reasons behind this waste is being served too much food, so make sure to ask the servers for specific portions if you don’t want as much as you’re typically served!
