Sorting Food Waste at the University Level: An Examination of Penn State Students’ Composting Habits

Keywords: Food waste, Sorting Food Waste, Recycling, Composting,
Abstract Type: Poster Abstract

Abstract

Reportedly, Pennsylvania State University “wastes about 400,000 meals per semester” (Agrwal, Food Waste…). That is enough to feed Penn State’s sold-out football stadium, about four times. At the same time, Penn State ranked 3rd among U.S. universities for its environmental and social impacts according to Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. Using these statistics as inspiration, this poster wanted to see how much Penn State students knew about food waste and if their Impact ranking reflected their attitudes and actions.

Through the usage of a very detailed, three-sectioned survey, we tried to answer the question, “Are students at The Pennsylvania State University conscious and proactive towards sorting food waste?” Section one asked our participants to estimate how knowledgeable they felt about sorting food waste, how often they make an effort to recycle, and to rate how big of a priority sorting food waste is for the participants. Section two included a small sorting quiz about food waste items and bins that can be found in the HUB-Robeson building- the center of Penn State’s student life. And in the last section, we offered the participants a bit of space to reflect and share their thoughts.

In the end, the majority of participants said they sort food waste only when it is a clear option. We also found that compostable containers caused participants confusion as some confuse the material with plastic. Lastly, participants told us that sorting food waste would be easier if bins and labels were more descriptive and available.