Praxis Course: ENVS 420 Praxis III: Sustainability at BMC
Semester: Spring 2026
Faculty Advisor/Professor: Professor Victor Donnay
Community Partner: Bryn Mawr College
Praxis Site Supervisor: Neha Sood
Praxis Poster:
ENVS 420_Libby H Travis_Updated_PraxisPoster_Travis
Further Context:
The topic of food waste is essential to any conversation surrounding sustainability. Goal 12 of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals: Ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns, includes the goal of halving global per capita food waste at the retail and consumer levels. We can all be a part of making progress on this goal, and Erdman Dining Hall is already getting started through the implementation of Leanpath technology and more conscious waste tracking and reduction. Since we started using Leanpath at the beginning of the Spring 2026 semester, we have seen an over 24% reduction in food waste! This is equivalent to over 11 metric tons of CO2 emissions avoided and over 1,300 gallons of gasoline conserved. In the following blog post I will tell the story of how we got such great success.
Leanpath is a company that supports food waste reduction technology for the food service industry. They have multiple set ups to accommodate various scales of food service operations. At Erdman Dining hall we use the Bench Scale AI product to scan all food waste before it is disposed of. In the photo on my poster, Erdman Cook, John Natale demonstrates the transaction process where the user:
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- Places plan of food on scale + Leanpath takes picture
- Selects the correct identifier for the user completing the transaction
- Selects type of food from filtered options given by Leanpath
- Selects the correct pan from filtered options given by Leanpath
- Selects Compost or Trash to track disposal method
The AI component of Leanpath is only in the image analyzing steps which gives recommendations for the type of food and pan based on previous transactions. This helps integrate it into the fast-paced kitchen environment with the average transaction only taking 15-20 seconds for Erdman workers. All food waste is composted at Erdman dining hall unless there are delays in Compost bin pick-up and delivery. We experienced this during the severe winter weather early in the semester which resulted in food waste temporarily being disposed of in the trash.
People in every role at Erdman complete these transactions, from student workers to prep cooks to managers, and every employee shares responsibility for the great success we’ve had so far! One of the ways we are able to turn this data collection into tangible reductions in food waste is through actionable month-long goals. These goals are created in collaboration with management and cooks at Erdman and we have started with goals that focus on the most wasted foods by weight, while also trying to prioritize reduction of foods that are carbon intensive, expensive, or both. Our first set of goals ran from March 11th, 2025 to April 12th, 2025. During that time we focussed on trying to reduce boneless chicken waste by 10% and waste from eggs and pasta by 15%. I am very excited to report that we met all our goals!
We developed many strategies for reducing waste and meeting these goals. By understanding trends in waste and consumption, cooks are better able to understand how much to prepare in advance. Additionally for foods that can be quickly made, like scrambled eggs in the mornings, cooks were able to confidently prepare less knowing they could always make more during service if there was higher-than-expected demand. Another way we are able to prevent food waste is by repurposing food that would otherwise go to the compost. One of the goals this was most effective for was boneless chicken where we were able to reduce waste by 25%! Leftover grilled chicken from the pasta bar during dinner was safely cooled and stored then repurposed for the salad bar during lunch and dinner.
Collaboration and communication were key themes to the implementation of leanpath at Erdman. Working on this project for my praxis class while also working my regular shifts as a student supervisor at Erdman gave me a very rewarding experience. I remember learning how to use the Leanpath touchscreen on my first shift back after winter break and watching others excitedly talking about this new device and scale. One of my favorite leanpath memories was when I was working a Monday dinner shift. We were setting up the dining hall, preparing the proper service utensils and labels, when John walked out of the kitchen with a big smile on his face. He starts excitedly introducing the chicken waste goal to me and other student workers, explaining how leftover chicken is going to be sliced and reused at the salad bar. From the moment he walked over and started talking I saw the faces of my coworkers and friends quickly morph to match his smile and joy. This moment has stuck with me as an example of how powerful excitement can be in building community and uniting people towards a common goal. I am grateful to every single person who has been a part of Leanpath at Erdman. We are all a part of progress, and I hope this blog post gets you a little bit excited about making positive change by reducing food waste.