After checking out the options at the 11 restaurants in the Center for Community (C4C) dining hall Wednesday, University of Colorado freshman Chris Wood settled on chicken sliders with mashed potatoes, French fries and a side salad.
After eating the majority of his lunch, Wood took his tray to the dump station before heading to class.
But instead of laying his tray on the conveyor belt and sending his leftovers to the back, Wood was asked to clean his own dishes into compostable bins as part of Scrape Your Plate Day, hosted by CU's Dining Services.
Wood pushed a pile of mashed potatoes, a few croutons and a couple of French fries into one of the bright yellow bins, which were already filling up an hour after the event began.
Scrape Your Plate was started in 2007 by the Environmental Center and Dining Services to raise students' awareness of not only how much food they're wasting, but that food can be composted as well, said Dan Baril, recycling program manager for the E-Center. The event is held every semester in the C4C, Libby and Sewall.
"It's not a costly event at all so if it impacts even five students to change how much food they're taking for the rest of the semester, that makes a big difference," Baril said.
For the last four years of the event, CU has compared the amount of wasted food to the number of students eating in the dining hall, said Lauren Heising, CU's coordinator for sustainable dining.
On average, students are wasting about a quarter to nearly half a pound of food each, Heising said.
"That's like three pieces of provolone cheese per person," Heising said. "It's a small cheeseburger or about three chicken nuggets that's being thrown away."
CU freshman Kate Stentina left her tray after scraping about a quarter of her veggie burger and a few bites of noodles into the compost bin.
"It's hard at the C4C not to get too much because there is so much you want to try," Stentina said. "It gets better after a while but it's overwhelming at first."
With options including an Italian pick-your-own-pasta bar, Mexican food from homemade tortillas, Persian skewers and a dessert bar, it's difficult for some students to resist the temptation to try a little of everything in C4C's all-you-can-eat dining center.
CU freshman Jiwon Song said she sometimes makes two trips to get everything she wants instead of loading up in the first trip.
"I try to think about how much I eat so I don't throw a lot away," Song said. "Sometimes I start with a small amount and then go back for dessert, so I don't get too much."
For some students, a little wasted food is no big deal but for students like Wood, Scrape Your Plate is exactly what he needed to start thinking about how much he's putting on his plate in the first place.
"It's true, I probably could have taken less and then gone back for seconds," Wood said. "I'll probably start smaller next time and make more trips instead of loading up right away."
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