Project Clean Plate Needs Volunteers

Chartwells and the Office for Campus Sustainability are planning an event as part of the campus “No Impact” month, but they need volunteers to help make it happen.

Project Clean Plate is a program that creates awareness about food waste and hunger. Students who eat in campus dining halls will have a chance to win prizes by reducing the amount of food they throw away. At the same time they will be able to contribute to the campus Full Circle Food Pantry.

Every year people who eat at the university dining halls leave more than 200 tons of food on their plates. To reduce that waste, Project Clean Plate volunteers will monitor returned plates during select meal periods, and students with the smallest amount of waste will have their names entered into drawings to receive two Kindles.

In addition, Chartwells will contribute food equal to the amount saved in the competition to the Full Circle Food Pantry.

But it can’t happen without volunteers, people who are willing to work at mealtime monitoring plates and weighing the scrap food. Not a glamorous job, but essential to make a difference for the environment.

Anyone interested in volunteering should contact the Office for Campus Sustainability at uaocs@uark.edu . Students enrolled in the sustainability minor can receive public service credits for this project.

Project Clean Plate is one of the events being organized as part of the One Book, One Community program’s “No Impact Semester.” This year the program is encouraging people in the community to read No Impact Man, by Colin Beavan, the true story of one family’s effort to live for a year without having a negative impact on society. Beavan will be on campus to speak about his experiences on Oct. 27 and 28.