The fate of the 93 billion pounds of food that is wasted each year in the U.S. was the topic of discussion at a Campus Sustainability Week event Monday, October 17.
A viewing of the award-winning documentary "DIVE!" was shown. The movie follows friends as they dumpster dive in the back alleys and garbage bins of Los Angeles' supermarkets, where they salvage thousands of dollars of edible food.
The event included a panel discussion that addressed hunger and food waste in West Michigan and featured "DIVE!" producer Timothy Vatterott and representatives from local organizations.
Following a similar initiative, the Meijer Holland Campus organized a dumpster dive to help educate the campus on current disposal methods. Dan Broersma, a liberal studies major and environmental specialist at Herman Miller, said 50 percent of the recyclable waste he collected in the dive was cardboard or paper.
This week the Holland Campus is introducing another project to decrease waste by eliminating trash bins from offices and classrooms and placing two centralized bins at the entrance of the building. "We should see a nearly 90 percent reduction in landfill fairly quickly," Broersma said.
Lisa Miller, director of the Holland Campus, said: "The zero-waste initiative reflects Grand Valley's commitment to sustainability. The project has been well received so far, and people who have initial concerns quickly recognize the importance of lowering the amount of recyclable waste that ends up in landfills."
Miller said some offices are already composting waste, but campus wide compost efforts will begin later this year.
