Sustainability in dining-out options at schools everywhere is a problem. It has been recorded that at colleges where students are allowed to have one take out box at a time from their dining halls, rarely any of the (reusable) boxes taken out ever come back in.
As part of a challenge for HackMIT 2022, we are creating a web application/dining hall tracking system to mitigate this across college campuses. By dispersing the idea of plastic reusable (QR code tracked) take out boxes, we plan to implement a system that informs college dining administrators of useful statistics to inform better decisions surrounding the use of these boxes. For example, by keeping track of which dining hall is experiencing more take outs, dining hall staff can ensure that that hall is most stocked with green boxes.
The most important feature of this system, however, is the rewards component, which incentivizes students to return their green boxes if they would like a new one for another meal. By incorporating points and a leader board system to the return of boxes, we expect that our system will facilitate a positive competitive spirit amongst students, and encourage them to be more sustainable. These points will lead to rewards such as campus cash and termly raffle draws! In summary, by 'gamifying' dining take out, we expect that students will play a more active role on their campus, reducing both food wastage and take-out box wastage.
We do not fail to realize that such a rewards system can also be applied to recycle/upcycle systems outside of campus dining, including but not limited to restaurant take-out boxes and grocery store check-out bag returns.