Many universities these days have switched to all-you-can-eat style dining plan for their students on campus. This is a change from the traditional à la carte points system that many universities, including our University, have used in the past. This new style of catering has created much more waste than expected, as students often have eyes bigger than their stomachs. As part of our plan to reduce food waste in our dining halls to align with our sustainability mission, I propose that the University launch an initiative to get students to reduce food waste by using written messages posted in dining halls. lunch. Many students understand the importance of being sustainable, bring reusable water bottles, recycle trash and reduce water use within their residence halls, but student behaviors and actions are out of alignment when it comes to waste food. This appears to be because many students are unable to conceptualize the amount of food they are wasting and how this affects the university both economically and environmentally. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay If you were to ask students what they think about food waste and whether they think it is important to be aware of how much food they waste, many students would express attitudes that would lead one to believe that they are already acting very consciously. This hypothesis would be wrong because many times the explicit attitudes of students, their expressed and conscious attitudes, are not always consistent with their behaviors. By pushing students to reflect on their feelings about food waste, we can bring this phenomenon to the forefront of their consciousness. And similarly, by combining this effort with written messages throughout the dining room, we can ask students to compare their own beliefs and attitudes to the acts they are performing. Some students may not care and their actions will show that, others, they may care a lot and their actions may also reflect this. This initiative is aimed more at those who have the right attitude towards food waste, but who may sometimes be a little too lazy or not thoughtful enough to take actions in accordance with these beliefs. The hope is to create some level of cognitive dissonance, by having thoughts, beliefs and/or behaviors that are inconsistent with each other, so that they can change their behaviors to match their attitudes. Similar initiatives have been carried out in university canteens which tested the effectiveness of written messages to reduce the amount of food. In a study conducted by Whitehair and colleagues, they selected a group of students in a university canteen and followed them for 6 weeks, measuring their attitudes towards food waste several times throughout the process, including the beginning and the end . , the researchers also measured how much food students would leave behind when they returned their plates after eating. Over the 6 week period it was shown that food waste was reduced by 15% and whilst attitudes did not change much, behaviors did. Surveying students about their attitudes and behaviors regarding food waste will allow us to understand how students feel and whether any further education is needed. Please note: this is just an example. Get a document now.