Experiential Learning Project Opportunities RECYCLE FOOD WASTE! Compost For Farms and Education For Schools Developing food waste recycling Among the annual approximate 3,337 tonnes of food waste in Hong Kong, about 70% is domestic food waste. Our community partner, The Hong Kong Outlying Islands Women’s Association (OIWA), has installed food waste recycling facilities and established a food waste recycling scheme at Mui Wo and Ping Chau Island, where food waste is collected from households. Participating families are given airtight food waste containers for separating and collecting daily food waste. They will then send the waste to four designated collection points in the vicinity. Up to now, about 130 families have participated in the scheme and 22 tones of food waste have been collected in 11 months. The collected food waste is then sent to OIWA’s environmental education farms where the food waste composter has been installed to process the food waste. The compost produced will be used in organic farming so as to fully utilize the waste. The environmental education farms are being used to treat the food waste and to test the compost produced in farming. Once the compost produced is viable for farming, the products will be distributed to local communities for use. HKU students will support OIWA in doing this food waste recycling project. Communicating with the local community and educating the public Students will study and have a better understanding on food waste recycling and the situation of the island community. They will promote food waste recycling to the local communities in Mui Wo and Ping Chau Island. They will communicate with different stakeholders to raise their awareness on food waste source separation and recycling. Through the process, students will gain deeper understanding on the people’s value, habits and needs. They will also conduct research for and be able to identify the good practices of food waste recycling so as to contribute to sustainable development. Students will also design public education materials, coordinate and facilitate environmental education workshops in the farms. They will promote the workshops to local primary and secondary schools so as to let the students to understand more about food waste recycling and sustainable development in Hong Kong. Students will learn about food waste recycling, community communication strategy and development of public education materials through this project! PROJECT LOCATION Mui Wo and Ping Chau Island, Hong Kong COMMUNITY PARTNER The Hong Kong Outlying Islands Women’s Association KEY AREAS Food Waste, Recycling, Organic Farm, Community Communication, Education Interested faculty members are welcomed to contact Dr. Dennis Cheung, Lecturer of GHELC Phone: 2219 4828 Email: [email protected] Website: http://ghelc.hku.hk