Just a little background:   Our mini campaign was “ NO FOOD WASTAGE TODAY“. We conducted the campaign in a mess in our college, BITS Pilani. After two issues that we were keen to work on misfired, we decided upon this concept because a) we were sure it would bring about a visible and documentable change and b) because all of us had witnessed this problem and genuinely felt about it.

We felt that the best way to make people realise the impact of wasting food was by making them feel guilty about it. A dustbin was kept near the table where students kept their food after having the meal. We requested them to empty whatever food was wasted into the bins. This served the dual purpose of making people feel guilty and realise the amount of food they had wasted. We added to their ordeal by video recording their reaction and asking them how it felt and what change it brought about.

Food wastage in the college messes has been for long, a cause of concern. At an estimate about 125 kg of food gets wasted every day in a mess.

We decided to carry out the experiment the next day during dinner. The mess workers were briefed about the idea. The person serving the food pasted a placard “No wastage today” to make sure people were made aware. As the people started streaming in, we waited anxiously for the first person to put his finished plate on the table.  We requested the people as they came to empty their plates int eh dustbin. Soon, we had aroused the curiosity of the people eating in the mess. They had realised that wasting food meant going through the embarrassment of emptying the plate into the dustbin. What followed was unbelievable…hardy anyone came to drop his plate with food wasted in it. They were making an effort to finish the plate. Accustomed to watching plates half filled with food being dropped off, this was very heartening.
Meanwhile Shailee and Shruti were busy collecting data on food wastage in the messes. In a single mess , food wasted during dinner per day is averaged 50 kg. We were waiting eagerly to see what the number would be today. The answer- 10kg. Yup, 10 kg.We had to make sure that the phenomenal drop was due to the no wastage motto adopted for the dinner. We asked them two questions -Did the no wastage placard cause to take food consciously? Did the act of throwing the waste food into the dustbin create a difference? To both, the answers were a resounding yes. The placard had made them think twice while getting served. The throwing away of the food caused them much embarrassment but they realized their mistake and promised not to waste food in the future.It was a day of fulfillment. We indeed brought about a change. Through a small action we made people realize the larger issue at hand- the food wasted by you can feed another impoverished child in the country.
We would not have succeeded had it not been for the support of the students. Their conscience was in the right place but it only needed an awakening call.

Reworking the campaign:

Today, when we reflect back, if we were to rework the campaign,following could have been done :

1. No Wastage Day at 3 different messes (one person per mess with phani with the camera taking rounds at all the three meals)
2. Could have put posters with facts and statistics about food wastage in BITS/in the country/ in the world etc in the messes.
3. Could have organised a brainstorming session of students , Mess Council members, concerned authorities, cooks and mess managers about waste control measures.

In hindsight this would have made the campaing more impactful and more importantly sustainable. It was important to make it sustainable and that is one area where we could have worked on more.We would discuss our mini campaign with the concerned authorities once the college reopens and see if a sustainable model can be put in place.