Cover Story by Beth Coleman "We do not need desserts after every meal!"

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Cover Stories | Send mail to The Voice Survey finds good recycling despite much food waste Dishwashers in Multnomah's dishroom scrape and throw away several pounds of food each day. The Bible calls Christians to be good stewards of God's creation. So how are the students of this Christian campus doing? According to a recent Voice survey, some students are doing better than others. Using the 130 responses to gauge Multnomah's conservation care, the campus does pretty well recycling mail and other paper. Forty three percent said they almost always recycle; 39 percent said they sometimes recycle. Only 10 percent said they never recycle. Lloyd Helm, Director of Environmental Services, estimates that the MBC campus fills seven containers with recycled paper each week. However, Mr. Helm also estimates that the campus fills 30 dumpsters each week with garbage. While difficult to tell how much of this trash can't be recycled versus how much just didn't get put into the recycling bin, the difference between 30 dumpsters and seven recycling containers is vast. Although Multnomah does a good job recycling paper, it could do more. Many survey respondents applauded the recycling bins on campus but wanted to see more of them. One female student pleaded, "Can we please get some recycling containers at the women's dorm?" Another student suggested that Multnomah leaders should encourage more recycling in the dorms. "I would love it if Multnomah had places to recycle here on campus," a female student said. "I don't have a car to take stuff places to recycle and so I never end up doing it. On-campus [recycling] would change that. I think recycling is extremely important." Some students want to see other students use the recycling bins already provided before adding more. One student wrote, "I am always pulling out paper from the trash can that sits right next to the recycle bin. This makes me angry!" Students did better recycling pop cans than they did with paper recycling. Forty percent of those polled said they always recycle their pop cans. Thirty percent say they almost always recycle pop cans and only 27 percent answered sometimes or never, versus 49 percent who said they sometimes or never recycle paper. Although Multnomah students are progressing well in the areas of recycling paper and pop cans, they need to work harder on food waste. Sixty-seven percent of students polled admitted that they had thrown away uneaten food at least once. Although few students responded to the survey, food services director Larry Hammer's report of food waste supported this percentage. Even though Mr. Hammer did not have an exact count of wasted food, he reported estimates. The following conservative estimates are on a per-day basis of uneaten food items in the trash. These estimates do not include half-eaten food. Mr. Hammer estimates that students throw away 25 whole pieces of fruit each day. He finds a minimum of 40 bagels, rolls and bread products in the trash. He also estimate that 30 desserts, 35 entrees, 15 whole sandwiches, 40 salads, and 10 bowls of soup are in the trash each day. If Mr. Hammer finds at least this many food items in the trash each day, that means during Monday through Friday, excluding weekends, Multnomah students throw out 125 pieces of fruit in one week, 200 pieces of bread, 150 desserts, 175 entrees, 75 sandwiches, 200 salads, and 50 bowls of soup. Again, these are low estimates. "I think we are doing a good job, but we take way too much to eat," one student said. Another student thought less desserts might help cut back food waste. "We do not need desserts after every meal! [After] dinner once in a while is OK. It is completely unnecessary." Some students suggested creative ways to reduce food waste. One student proposed that the cafeteria use the leftovers to raise pigs to sell for missions. Still another student thought Multnomah's cafeteria should reuse all of its leftover food in future meals. "All half-eaten oranges, soups, salads and the like should not be thrown away. Use them in jams, new soups, and new salads. Create stews, and above all, be creative," he wrote. Many respondents commented that students need to put only what they can eat on their plate. Overall, students responsibly turn off the water while brushing their teeth. Seventy-nine percent of students never or sometimes let the water run. Twenty-one percent surveyed always or almost always let the water run while they brush their teeth. People who brush their teeth at least two times a day and let the water run waste approximately five gallons of water per day. In a year, a person will waste 1,825 gallons of water. Another student environmental concern was excess announcements in mail boxes. Many students complained that the announcements were wasteful and unnecessary. One student said, "Couldn't this survey have been set up by e-mail? Right now the trash cans are full of these surveys -- even though the recycling bins are right next to them. This is true of every flyer we get. A very wasteful method for distributing information. Most other colleges I've been at have an information kiosk -- maybe a good Stugo project?" A married student commented, "Quit sending out so much junk mail and surveys and start using e-mail instead." Students varied in their opinions over whether Christians are good stewards of God's creation. Answers ranged anywhere from "Absolutely not!" to "Sometimes" to "Absolutely yes!" About 49 percent of students felt that Christians aren't doing a good job of taking care of the earth. "There seems to be a connection of recycling and liberalism which then makes recycling bad," a married student said. "This is a pet peeve for me. Shouldn't we express our gratitude to our Creator by following this command? Yet it seems to be a non-issue to so many. To the point at times where those who are concerned about the environment are thought of as a bit strange or overzealous," an off-campus student said. "Not in America. At least not this generation. People raised during Depression years are good examples to see conservation modeled," a college student said. Other students felt Christians are doing a good job of caring for the earth. "If you are talking about the efficiency of our resources, absolutely [we are doing a good job]. We are using more of all our resources than ever possible in history. If you are talking about "Save whales! Save rainforest! Save salmon eggs!" I don't think that was what God ordained us to do," a single college student said. Beth Coleman loves pajamas, warm blankets, bedtime and good dreams. She hates alarm clocks. Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Cover Stories | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2000 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.