Every year billions of tons of waste are thrown into the landfill with a large part of that waste coming from food waste. According to data gathered from the Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that food makes up for around 24% of total waste making it the largest individual source of waste. Since food makes up such a large amount of waste it is important for grocery stores to have efficient waste systems in place. Luke Ross a member of Cascadia College’s BASSP program has made it his goal to create more efficient waste system withing Kroger grocery stores.
Improvement Through Education
In order to create a better waste system within grocery stores Luke has started with education. When throwing away their food most people do not think throwing the food away in whichever bin is most convenient. In order to solve this problem Luke has created a series of posters which featured Items commonly used by grocery store employees in order to show how to properly dispose of them. Using his store as a test case Luke managed to get the managers of three other stores involved implementing the same system found in his main store.
A Step in the Right Direction
In order to measure the effectiveness of the changes data has been recorded using the bins weight and the total number of bags. In the one and a half months since implementation change has been small but noticeable. Before implementation the bin averaged a weight of 2.1 lbs. which has risen to an average of 2.5 lbs. Looking at the total number of bags there has been a less noticeable change with the average compost bags used only showing an increase of 1 bag throughout this time. Although these changes have been small they are still on a steady rise and it is Luke’s hope that this amount will continue to increase into the future.
Making the Right Decisions Outside of Work
It is the goal of Luke’s project for employees to make the right decisions not just withing the workplace but also at home. Employees have been asked a series of questions in order to determine the effectiveness of the posters. These Questions include whether they have used the bin, how effective it has been in making these choices, and whether these employees have continued to make these choices when off work. Based off employees answers 60% (3 of 5) have said they have used the bins. The same 3 employees have also stated that they found the bins helpful however, only 2 have said that the posters have influenced their decisions outside of the workplace.
The Bachelor of Applied Science in Sustainable Practices program hosts students who have completed an associate degree or higher, also helping professionals with bachelor’s degrees already retrain into the sustainability field! This two year program has a capstone project as part of the program as seen above, and we invite you to look at what Cascadia College can offer you for education in Sustainability! Find out more at www.cascadia.edu/bassp