Progress Report

To: Dr. Travis Matteson
From: Mahlek, Taj, Matt, Collin, Breden, Colin
Date: 10/28/2018
Subject: Trash Titans Group Progress Report

Project Overview

We are investigating the waste stream of the central dining hall on the main campus of SUNY Alfred State College of Technology. With the intent to devise ways to minimize the food waste that is generated within the Terrace. For a college that has been recognized by national award for outstanding food and style, the unnecessary amount of food waste is concerning. To accomplish this, we’ve been setting up interviews and tracking the transportation of the waste as it moves around campus.

Group Progess So Far

Interview Questions
  • Who are we going to ask?
  • The Terrace
  • ACES employees
  • Employees of the terraces
  • Peers and students that attend the Terrace
  • Facilities Faculty that disposes trash
  • What are we going to ask them?
  • What happens to the food and waste after the students dispose of it? And in what ways can we improve waste efficiency?

Brainstormed Questions
  1. Do you keep tabs on how much is produced versus thrown out each?
  2. On average, how much food is produced in a day?
  3. How many bags of garbage are produced each day?
  4. What times of day are the busiest?
  5. Where does the trash go?
  6. In what ways is the garbage seperated?
  7. How do you know how many supplies to order?
  8. What do you do to minimize?

Outstanging Challenges
Coordination

Finding time to talk to the employees is difficult, as obligations for other classes are taking up most of our time. We can’t ask them during the lunch rush or whenever we get a break because we would end up disrupting their job. We were hoping to narrow down people to interview higher up the hierarchy, as any info they have would be the most valuable to gather.

Execution

Finding time to talk to the employees is difficult, as obligations for other classes are taking up most of our time. We can’t ask them during the lunch rush or whenever we get a break because we would end up disrupting their job. We were hoping to narrow down people to interview higher up the hierarchy, as any info they have would be the most valuable to gather.

Research

By interviewing a few of the employees at an open house event, we were able to find out that 75% of the food was excessive and mass produced. Leading to excessive amounts of wasted food. Usually, open house events are expected to be the most crowded. If the food was too much in a situation like this, what does this say about day-to-day food production?

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