Our Proposal
Our project that we chose to do is minimize the amount of food waste produced in Akahi. Kamehameha Schools has the privilege to get as much food as we want with many different choices of food. This could be both good and bad. It is good in the sense of giving us options and giving us a choice of what we want to eat, and giving us that sense of responsibility. It is bad in the sense that we often take more than we eat, and just end up wasting a lot more food. To solve this problem, we have decided to talk to workers that run Akahi and ask them to increase the amount of Pace Yourself days, along with hanging up flyers to make students aware of the amount of food waste they are creating.
This project will make Kamehameha a better place because being the Hawaiian school that we are, it looks bad when we are not following the Hawaiian ways and not caring about our land and sustainability. By decreasing the amount of food waste this school produces, not only will it give this school more money to spend it on other things, but it will also make this campus more sustainable. This project addresses the need to be more aware of how we are treating this school and community. By not caring how much food you are wasting, it shows that you donʻt care where it goes, what is being done with it, or how much money and other resources we are losing.
Many students might say, what does this have to do with me? Why should I care? After going around and talking to different students in different grade levels about this issue even though some might have said some different things, they all agreed that the amount of food waste on this campus was a problem. When I suggested the solution of adding more Pace Yourself days, most of them were uneasy about it, and didnʻt like it, but after explaining why they should like it, and by shedding some light on why this is important, they all agreed that even though we might not like it, we should have more Pace Yourself days. By decreasing the amount of food waste, it is not only benefiting the school by putting more money in our pocket, but it also benefits us, the students because it makes us realize how blessed and grateful we are to have all of this food. It also teaches us to portion ourselves with what we need, and not what we want.
As my group and I were coming up with possible solutions, we came up with a good, but unrealistic solution. This solution was instead of giving the food to different farm animals, we would make it into renewable energy by means of Hydrothermal Liquefaction. “Hydrothermal Liquefaction is when you heat up food waste under high pressure to create an oil that can be redefined as fuel.”(NBCNews). This solution would be very impactful and beneficial for the school. While doing more research and listening to guest speakers, our group and I were able to find many problems with this solution like, “How much would this cost? Where would we put the machinery? Would this machinery produce more pollution than if we didnʻt do it?” After realizing these problems, we tried to find a more realistic solution to this problem, and that was when we came up with more Pace Yourself days and flyers. We think that making flyers is something that many people would think of, but it is a way to just spread awareness. Adding more Pace Yourself days was a little more original because since most people donʻt like these days, they would not even consider that as a solution.
After much thought about choosing this solution, we came to the conclusion that this was the best route to go because not only do we believe that it will be effective, but it is also a solution that can be implemented fairly easily. Unlike our other solution, this solution not only gets our point across, but it allows for Akahi to schedule these days easily. The only problem that we found with this solution was the teachers that help with Pace Yourself days. If we do decide to add more of these days, we would need more teachers willing to serve us food during lunch. A solution to this was just as Homerooms have mandatory Dishroom duties, teachers would have mandatory Pace Yourself days. Even though they would have to give up more lunch time, I think in the end it is for the betterment of the students and the sustanability of the school.
Our plan to actually put this solution in action is to first continue to talk with Akahi workers and staff about the problems they might be having of adding more Pace Yourself days, specifically twice a week. We would then, help them come up with possible solutions of what we could do to help them solve these problems. We would then talk to the office and the principal about making a mandatory sign up sheet for teachers to participate in these Pace Yourself days. Hopefully, after negotiating with various school leaders, they will either immediately implement it, or put this solution higher on their priority list. I honestly believe that if everything runs quickly and smoothly, this plan could be put into place anywhere within 4-6 weeks.
Another good thing about this solution is that it requires nothing more than action, and willing teachers, and paper for our flyers. Unlike other solutions to problems that other groups are doing, our solution is just a change in organization. Not only does it not require any tools or knowledge, but it also requires little money if not any money. If anything, this solution will save money almost instantly by having to purchase and make less food for our students.
The big question is how does this project have to do with sustainability? According to the seniorsecondary website, the Social aspect of Sustainability, “acknowledges the need for equity within and between generations, and within and between ethnic and social groups. It is inclusive of people’s mental and physical well-being and the cohesion of their communities based on a fair distribution of resources.” This aspect relates to our problem and solution because by limiting the amount of food waste we are producing, it is improving our well-being because by taking only what we need, it is making the Hawaiian students healthier and have a sense of portion control. Another aspect that relates to our problem is the Economic aspect which “acknowledges the interactions of humans with the natural environment in using resources to create goods and services which add value to their lives. It acknowledges the resource use and waste disposal must occur within the capacity of our planet. It encourages a fair-trading system that equitably distributes benefits and costs. It further encourages innovation and creativity in developments that lead to a sustainable future. The resource that we are creating is Pace Yourself days which not only acknowledges the amount of food waste we create, but by doing this, it is furthering our school’s development of a sustainable future.
In closing, food waste is an actual problem not only at our school, or even in our state, but all around the world. Around the world, 795 million people do even have enough food to live a healthy lifestyle, yet America wastes approximately 50% of all produced food. Even though I know food waste and hunger will never be solved any time soon, we can start by making a change here on campus. If we the students start caring about this issue, it could possibly strike a change in their daily lives too.