Partner: Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)

Project: Food Waste Prevention Educator

Students: Trinity Iwciki, Second Year Undergraduate in the Environment and Society & Anne-Lunie Rodney, Fourth Year Undergraduate in Business Management and Environmental Science and Policy

In Spring 2022, Trinity and Anne worked together to create nineteen TikTok videos for Florida Food Waste Prevention Week, which was held from April 4 to April 8, 2022.

Trinity and Anne collaborated with Lauren O’Connor, Government Operations Consultant, and other members of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) team.

Trinity and Anne were tasked with educating college students between the ages of 18 and 23 about food waste and prevention techniques. They determined that TikTok would be the most efficient platform to better reach this audience.

Together, Trinity and Anne created two types of videos. The first type was a 5-60 second short, lip synched, humorous video to introduce food waste topics. The second type was a 60-180 second narrated, informative, and light-hearted video expanding on and explaining topics that were previously introduced.

The team worked with the Florida Food Waste Prevention Week team to create a new TikTok channel that amassed 4,272 video views, 106 profile views, 138 likes, 4 comments, 32 shares, and 12 followers in one week.

“I’m really happy with those numbers,” said Trinity, “especially considering that educational videos are not always that type that do the best on social media apps like TikTok. I would consider our platform choice a success based off of that set of data.”  

In addition, Trinity and Anne created a set of three food waste prevention infographics, which will be displayed on the FSU campus in the upcoming fall semester.

The FDEP team felt that Trinity and Anne had gone above and beyond what they were asked to do while still representing the core message of Florida Food Waste Prevention Week.

“Trinity and Anne had to school us on TikToks,” said Lauren, “because we had no idea about [the platform]. When they presented during Florida Food Waste Prevention Week, they knocked it out of the park and did a fantastic job.”

As a result of completing the Fellowship, Trinity and Anne believe they have a better understanding of food waste, education, and video production.

“The project helped me feel more comfortable and more confident in my career goals,” said Trinity. “I enjoyed doing this research and putting it into words that are interesting and engaging to people who normally wouldn’t be interested in food waste.”

Anne also noted that she was also able to teach the people around her about the things she was learning in real time. She hopes that the FDEP will continue to grow their Florida Food Waste Prevention Week TikTok channel in the future.

“A lot of people at FDEP have stories and tips that they could share with everyone, and you’d be surprised by how many people would actually view the channel,” Trinity said. “More people are trying to be environmentally conscious, so I think there’s so much that could be done with this account.”

To view Trinity and Anne's TikTok videos, visit flfoodwaste.carrd.co.

To learn more about the Sustainability Fellows program, visit sustainablecampus.fsu.edu/sustainability-fellows.