Reducing Food Waste at St. Edward’s University

By: CP

This semester, my classmates and I at St. Edward’s University are taking a Social Media for Public Relations course where we were asked to create a social media for social good campaign. After looking at many diverse social issues, we chose to bring awareness to the topic of food waste, and created this group, Food For Second Thought. Our goal has been to combat and educate people like you about food waste, and increase awareness in the Austin, Texas area by sharing tips and resources through blogging and social media!

Not only have we been sharing food waste hacks and tips for our local community, we have been implementing these handy information into our daily life on campus ourselves! Additionally, we are proud to say that even our university takes food waste into consideration in day to day operations. Through encouraging and having pages on recycling and sustainability, to each dining hall having disposable bins that include compost, and recyclables, Food For Second Thought is proud to be representing St. Edward’s University.

Students Tackling Food Waste

Did you know that studies show college students were found to waste about 112 pounds of waste per student per school year? That can really add up on a large campus! After working on this campaign for a semester, the truth is we all view food wastage so differently now, and also truly value our food as well as even having had fun trying tips and tricks on how to be more resourceful. With this being a really busy and impactful time in a college student’s life, we tend to not really put any focus on food-management behaviors. As students ourselves, we get that! Luckily, we have some super easy and attainable hacks that we have now implemented into our routines to reduce food wastage:

• Proper storage! Pro tip: make sure to store fruits and veggies separate!
• Grocery plan and meal plan! This helps from overbuying or overcooking and wasting uneaten food
• Food waste recipes make use of those extra food scraps
• Frozen food is not only convenient, but lasts longer

St. Edward’s University Tackling Food Waste

The Food Recovery Network has found that college campuses as a group throw out a total of 22 million pounds of uneaten food each year. We are proud to say that not only have we been putting a stop to that, but that our school has implemented many different forms to put a stop to this to. Both dining hall have a row of disposal bins that include trash, compost, and recyclables. How cool is it that they are composting our food scraps? They even have helpful posters displayed above with pictures and descriptions that tell you exactly which items belong in each bin. By simply following the poster instructions and encouraging others to do so as well you can help divert 40% of waste from landfills each year.

We know that sometimes we may want to help, but may not know how. St. Edward’s provides many different online resources and blogs so you can know all about recycling and composting. Check them out here!

Reduce Your Food Wastage!

Make some easy changes in your routine and see how much less food you start to waste. Not only will you even save money, but you’ll be helping the planet too. Make sure to also check out your local resources for compost bins and read our blogs for more tips on reducing food waste!

Edited: MG