Weigh the Waste Event Results

The results of our Weigh the Waste event are in! Thank you to everyone who participated! The Weigh the Waste event took place Nov. 11-15 during lunchtime in Café Mac. Students dumped their food waste into large bins that were weighed at the end of each lunch period. The bin was on display to give everyone a visual of the quantity of uneaten food and was weighed at the end of the mealtime; the numbers were posted each day. On average, we calculated that one Macalester student wastes between 0.12 to 0.16 pounds of food each meal. If people eat approximately 1 pound of food each meal, that means we’re throwing away between 12 percent to 16 percent of the food we take. Every year in the United States we generate more than 14 million tons of food waste. The Natural Resources Defense Council reports that on average, diners leave 17 percent of meals uneaten. Please be mindful of how much food you’re taking and only take what you will eat. Don’t forget you can always ask for adjusted portion sizes if you want more or less food!

written by Sustainability Office student worker Sally Herman