Every month we focus on a different area of sustainability on campus.

In November we focus on the importance of food waste prevention and give tips and tricks as to what you can do to help and how you can get involved!

Why should we prevent food waste?

First thing’s first; why should you reduce food waste? Well, food waste reduction has economic, social, and of course environmental benefits. By reducing food waste, you can save money from buying less food and reduce methane emissions from landfills (thus reducing your carbon footprint). Not only that, you can also conserve energy and resources, preventing the pollution involved with the food process (such as growing, manufacturing, transporting, and selling the food) and support your community through donations!

What can you do?

Grocery shopping by yourself can be overwhelming at first. How do family members make it look so effortless? A good start would be to make a shopping list and stick to it to keep yourself from overbuying. Another way is to learn how to properly store your fresh fruits and vegetables. The best way to go about this is by remembering that your freezer is your friend. This also goes hand in hand with preparing food. Plan and prepare your meals at the beginning of the week. Store any surplus in the freezer for later. Finally, be mindful of what you have on hand before going grocery shopping. You never know what substitutions you can make for certain ingredients! It may even make your meal better.

How can you get involved?

Getting involved is easy, you just have to know where and when to look. When the weather is warmer, you can feel free to volunteer at the campus garden! You can also look into other community gardens around Springfield as well. Participate in different food drives, and even start your own!

Finally, take a walk around campus! In the dining centers you may see some odd contraptions near the windows. Those are ZipGrow Towers! They are a vertical growing system that allows the dining centers to grow fresh produce right here on campus. You can learn more about the ZipGrow Tower process as well as how the dining centers focus on sustainability here.

We hope you will use this month to educate yourself on the importance of food waste, as well as how you can help. Challenge your friends and families to do the same!