Dear KAUST Community,
Today is the United Nations’ International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. Unfortunately, in our daily life, we witness the wastage of food on many occasions, at home, in restaurants, and at business events. When we waste food, we waste the labor, effort, investment, and precious resources (like water, seeds, feed, etc.) that go into producing it, not to mention the resources that go into transporting and processing it.
An estimated 17% of total global food production is wasted.
(11% in households, 5% in food service and 2% in retail).
Food Waste at KAUST
Food waste is an issue at KAUST like the rest of the world. The Facilities Management waste management team is working with Community Life to find and implement effective ideas to reduce food waste in KAUST. More importantly, this issue requires the participation of the whole community. Our combined efforts can make a huge impact.
The composting of food waste from our commercial operations has already started, with the help of our partner (Edama Organic Solutions), and soon we will extend this further to include all KAUST food waste. However, food waste avoidance, and reuse where possible, will be our priority. Visit this webpage for helpful tips on reducing food waste.
“Waste to Art“
Waste avoidance extends to all areas of Facilities Management, as demonstrated in the recent work “Waste to Art” – a collaboration with a Jeddah-based artist to showcase an interesting way to look at our daily waste items. This booklet is a collection of some of the artworks, to inspire you to participate in KAUST’s drive to minimize, reuse and recycle waste.
Kind regards,
Matthew Early
VP, Facilities Management
