Efficient Method to Reduce Weight and Volume of Food Waste at Home by Creating a Powered Dry-Grinding System
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v13i3.7195Keywords:
food waste, emission, dry-grindingAbstract
Almost 330 million pounds of food are wasted in the United States every day. This waste ends up in landfills and emits a harmful chemical called methane. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), food waste is directly responsible for two percent of carbon emissions [1]. Throwing away food waste into green trash bins at high temperatures can bring about fetid rotting. Our project goal is to reduce the amount of food waste and demonstrate an eco-friendly and efficient disposal method by optimizing the blade for a dry-grinding system. We developed a dry-grinding system with the inside temperature of the container maintained at 80°C ± 3°C for dehydration for 3.5 hours. To reduce moisture, we installed a fan in the system and activated it for 5 hours. We designed 4 different types of blades, tested them in the same condition, and selected the best blade type to reduce food waste. We quantified the food waste reduction with 7 different foods and dairy food waste. Our method demonstrated an average food waste reduction of 76% weight and 67% volume. Ultimately, processed food waste is a natural and sustainable alternative as it enriches soil with essential nutrients that can be used as compost.
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Eunseo Ryu is a junior at Leigh High School in San Jose, California. She has always been an individual with a mindset towards the bettering of Earth's polluted conditions. Through her research and prototype planning, she has been well-informed of the current environmental circumstances and her mind is determined to think of more solutions towards improving the Earth for future generations. Through her research project last year, she won second place in the Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship to conserve energy at home with solar pump and low-maintenance pool water circulation system. She was designated as Most Promising Young Scientist in SPV Market Research and proposed her project to San Jose City Council to implement 10% out of 1.18M house pools in California to save 56GWh and $13M for 97,783 household. Recently, she received the Stockholm Regional Junior Water Prize as award of Excellence for Water-Related Science Research Project. Additionally, she received commendation from San Jose City for her exceptional talent, boundless ingenuity, and innovative contributions. She will continue to optimize her prototype to contribute to the community.
Besides being a passionate young scientist, she is an active pianist and percussionist. She is a percussionist at Leigh High School’s Wind Ensemble and California Youth Symphony. She won awards at various music festivals and international competitions in the US and Paris. Dana shares her talents to the community by playing for the senior living centers and her church community. She also volunteers at Ronald McDonald House Stanford, assisting out-of-state patients and their families staying at RMH for their lifesaving treatments at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.
She also enjoys finance-related tasks and investments. She has experience managing school finances, having served as Treasurer in both ASB and Key Club at her school. Additionally, she is a business owner who is passionate about business.
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