UW-Madison students sort through trash

Brenna George remembers the first time she put on a pair of rubber gloves to look through trash. She had just been hired as an intern at UW-Madison and was assigned to sort through the waste coming out of Grainger Hall’s Capitol Cafe. George was disappointed to see the vast amounts of food waste and items that could have been recycled instead.

“I thought more people cared and paid attention to what they threw away, but when you really get to look into it, it’s not that way at all,” says George.

Trash auditing involves sorting waste from a particular location into distinct waste streams such as mixed paper, office paper, recycling and landfill. The goal is to determine whether waste is being properly disposed of.

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Ken Notes: we cold easily feed those in need with what we throw away that is still safe to eat but I know many that suggest that this is beneath those in need. We waste billions on affordable housing programs, billions on food programs, and then throw away billions more suggesting it is not good enough....