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Environmental science student initiates research on food waste |22 February 2018

 

 

 

 

 

At twenty-one years old, Rosetta Alcindor is currently studying a degree in Environmental Science, specialising in Climate Change, at the University of Seychelles (UniSey). She is a strong advocate for the environment, with a particular interest in connecting humans to our natural surroundings.

As part of Rosetta’s third year studies, she is required to conduct a research project which has given her an ideal opportunity to delve into the topic of food waste – a subject which she is not only interested in but is also an alarming issue in the country.

Rosetta cites that there is a high level of food waste being produced by large hotels and this prompted her to conduct research on the amount of food waste that is being generated by three local hotels. She began collecting data on December 12, 2017 and while she expects to finish this by the end of the month, the results will be disseminated later this year.

Rosetta’s mentor for the project, Diana Körner, a consultant at the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Foundation (SSTF), explains that through its work with different tourism stakeholders in Seychelles, the SSTF is aware of the challenges that the country is facing in terms of waste management. In cooperation with Sustainability for Seychelles (S4S) and the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association (SHTA), the SSTF organised a series of awareness raising events in 2017 and formulated an information brief on sustainable waste management in Seychelles, which highlights that many tourism businesses are ready to help reduce the amount of waste to the landfill. Often a lack of information or missing cooperation between tourism businesses challenge more sustainable practices.

In 2016, a group of university students from ETH Zurich and UniSey conducted a study on waste management in Seychelles. Their report, which has since been published, revealed that waste is a major issue and needs to be addressed urgently. It was cited in the ETH report that every Seychellois produces about 2.5 kg of waste per day and that this is a lot, even when compared to other countries.

Together with current research on the amount of food waste generated in hotel kitchens around the world which shows that approximately 25% of all food entering a hotel kitchen is discarded as waste, Diana feels that Rosetta’s project thus has good justification and is an important step towards a more sustainable waste management approach.

To help with her research, Rosetta makes use of a handheld scale to weigh all the hotels’ kitchen waste which includes skins, bones, spoilt foods and leftovers. Additionally, she uses a special software which also helps her to measure waste, identify problems in the kitchen and to suggest alternative recipes.

The food waste assessment and reduction software was made available to Rosetta following Diana’s request to Betterfly Tourism (a French company specialising in various types of environmental software for hotels and restaurants) to pilot the software ‘Moins de gaspi au resto’ in Seychelles.

Thus far, data collected by Rosetta at one hotel indicates that they are employing sustainable practices and that most unwanted foods are not discarded as the hotel gives these to local farmers. 

Through this project, Rosetta hopes to create more awareness about waste management problems; to encourage individuals/organisations to take more of an interest in this matter and to further reduce their waste as well as its subsequent impacts on the environment.

She reminds us that additional waste produces more carbon emissions, as it creates a greater demand for food which is met by an increased supply from the farmland. To meet this demand, more trees are cut down leading to deforestation and therefore negatively impacting the carbon cycle as a result.

Despite the challenges she faces along the way, such as communication problems with the hotels and time constraints, Rosetta feels that this assignment has helped her gain a lot of confidence and that it has allowed her to meet people who have helped broaden her knowledge on the topic.

Diana mentions that Rosetta’s work is a good first initiative to raise awareness and give insights into the situation in Seychelles and hopes that the SSTF will be able to use this as an example when encouraging more hotels/restaurants to look into the amounts of food waste created. The results of Rosetta’s project will also serve as useful information when deciding upon policies/mechanisms for encouraging hotels to reduce their waste.

She adds that as people become more aware of the problem, more solutions can be found and this can have a positive impact.

The SSTF is happy to support someone as young and passionate as Rosetta taking an interest in such an important subject. Diana points out that Rosetta is a committed, timely and professional individual and hopes that young people in Seychelles are inspired by her to also speak up about issues that matter to them and to take action.

 

 

 

 

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