As students inside Gator Corner Dining Center feasted on turkey, mashed potatoes and other Thanksgiving staples Monday evening, UF's Erase the Waste campaign came to a close outside the dining hall.
The nearly two-month campaign focused on lowering post-consumer food waste in on-campus dining halls.
Part of UF's ongoing effort to have zero waste by 2015, the effort wound down by weighing in the food scraps thrown away by diners throughout the day at Gator Corner.
About 322 pounds of food were trashed by the time weigh-in ended at 7:30 p.m.
Students also had the chance to sign a banner affirming a pledge to reduce their environmental footprint.
Of the 2,000 to 3,000 students who pass through Gator Corner daily, about 125 signatures were added throughout the day.
Freshman Jordan Hester, who signed the pledge upon leaving the dining hall, said the buffet-style setup of the facility encourages waste.
"We have so much," Hester said. "So many people don't get [the equivalent of] what we throw away."
Susanne Lewis, Gator Dining's sustainability coordinator, wrote in an e-mail that UF's two main dining halls were targeted for the waste weigh-in because food waste tends to be greater at all-you-care-to-eat facilities.
Each diner throws away about 2 ounces of food per visit, which adds up to about 100 tons of wasted food each year, Lewis wrote.
Students from Gators for a Sustainable Campus and Campus Kitchens Project, a UF organization that gives would-be wasted, untouched food to those in need, also set up camp beside the Erase the Waste campaign to snag students on their way out and further their eco-friendly goals.
UF English junior Charlie Shaw, of Campus Kitchens, said when students use only what they need to eat, UF can purchase less food, which provides "more to go around."
Not all student diners were convinced the campaign would have an effect.
UF sophomore Peter Stubbers said the program's teachings should have campus-wide application and not be solely focused on dining halls.
"It just seems a little preposterous to me for [there to be] zero waste from a dining hall," Stubbers said.
