Source: Kelly 1xbet best casino website , 785-532-6483, stirtz@k-1xbet best casino website edu
Hometown interest: Missouri Valley, Iowa
Note to editors: Kelly 1xbet best casino website is a 1996 graduate of Missouri Valley High School in Iowa.
News release prepared by: Trevor Davis, 785-532-2535, tjdavis@k-1xbet best casino website edu
Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012
When less means more: Print messages help students reduce 1xbet best casino website waste at dining center
MANHATTAN -- To decrease 1xbet best casino website waste, hold the trays and add posters.
That's what Kelly Whitehair found while researching 1xbet best casino website disposed by students at Kansas State University's Van Zile Dining Center. She is an assistant director at the dining center and a December 2011 doctoral graduate in hospitality management and dietetics.
After posters reminded students about 1xbet best casino website waste during meal services, students threw out 15 percent less 1xbet best casino website . Posters read: "Eat what you take. Don't waste 1xbet best casino website ."
The finding reveals that simple print campaigns may be an affordable option for 1xbet best casino website service managers to reduce 1xbet best casino website waste, Whitehair said.
"All it took to change behavior was a trigger that made students think twice about the topic of 1xbet best casino website waste before they started eating," she said. "These were just posters I made at home on a word processor. This was not a fancy marketing campaign."
Americans throw away more than 34 million tons of 1xbet best casino website annually, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, making up nearly 14 percent of the municipal solid waste stream. Less than 3 percent of that is recovered and recycled.
Whitehair is doing her part with research that could help university dining centers waste less 1xbet best casino website and implement more sustainable practices.
During the study, Whitehair and students enrolled in an environmental issues in hospitality course scraped 1xbet best casino website waste -- everything from ketchup and ranch dressing to buns and vegetables -- off of more than 11,000 1xbet best casino website trays at Van Zile. They scraped trays five days a week during lunch and dinner.
Whitehair analyzed trays individually. An average of 2 ounces of 1xbet best casino website was left on each tray, totaling nearly 2 tons of 1xbet best casino website thrown out during the six-week study. Some students threw out as much as 35 ounces of 1xbet best casino website scraps, while a third of students threw out nothing.
Whitehair also found that general demographics and beliefs toward sustainability had little impact on the student 1xbet best casino website behaviors.
In another part of the study, 1xbet best casino website interviewed dining facility managers from universities that no longer use trays. She investigated best practices and student reaction at those dining centers, and she is writing guidelines for schools that are considering not using trays.
1xbet best casino website service managers reported benefits of not using trays, including decreased waste; reduced chemical, water, energy and 1xbet best casino website costs; and improved student satisfaction.
"They found in customer service satisfaction surveys that people would have much shorter wait times in line because people take less 1xbet best casino website and make conscious decisions about their 1xbet best casino website choices beforehand," she said.
1xbet best casino website worked with housing and dining services staff, some of whom teach courses in the department of hospitality management and dietetics.
"We're extremely lucky that housing and dining services works so closely with the College of Human Ecology," she said. "The partnership provides opportunities for 1xbet best casino website to conduct research at major facilities."
1xbet best casino website waste from Kansas State University's dining centers is composted with other organic waste such as leaves, tree limbs and grains at the university's student farm. University researchers use some of the compost from the North Farm, managed by College of Agriculture students, for erosion, field and greenhouse experiments.
Carol Shanklin, dean of the Graduate School, served as 1xbet best casino website 's academic adviser. 1xbet best casino website earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees from K-State.
