The university students’ knowledge and behavior towards food loss and waste in Sleman, Yogyakarta

¹ Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 55281
² Department of Health Behaviour, Environment and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 55281

^* Corresponding author: enrikarahayusetyani@mail.ugm.ac.id

Abstract

This study aims to learn about students’ knowledge, behavior, and food habits regarding domestic waste production. In late October 2023, a cross-sectional study using a purposive sampling was conducted among university students (n=85) in Sleman. An online questionnaire assessed their knowledge and behavior regarding domestic waste. Analysis data was using Stata/MP 17.0. The findings revealed that 30.6% of students potentially increased the domestic waste from leftover food. Among 51.8% of the students who cooked their dishes, 83.3% tended to produce vegetable waste, mainly from seeds, rind, and roots. Most students (87.1%) store their groceries at home/flat, and 56.8% often throw away the groceries if it has spoiled or reached their expiry date. Creating a shopping list was a viable solution in reducing domestic waste, as those who never (15.4%) and seldom (61.5%) made a shopping list are more likely to throw away their groceries if they exceed the expiry date. Although the students consistently finish their food, their knowledge, behavior, and food habits depict that they still could produce vast amounts of food waste. To effectively tackle and reduce the increasing domestic waste problem in Sleman, it is crucial to implement targeted food waste reduction initiatives.