The School League Committee and School of Materials Science and Engineering advocated that every member of Tongji University should strive to be “a plate clearer” and practice plate clearing in their daily life. Clear You Plate campaign, part of Youth Goes Along with Green TJ series, was unveiled on April 22nd, the same day as World Earth Day was celebrated. A series of activities with diversified forms were initiated like Clear Your Plate for the Earth, Voice of Plate Clearing and Clear the Plate for Ourselves. The activities took place in Xueyuan Canteen and Xiyuan Canteen on Siping Campus, as well as in Chunhe Canteen and Qiugu Canteen on Jiading Campus. The concept of plate clearing as well as the culture of frugality echoed with a warm welcome from a significant number of faculty and students.

With the help of New Media, the online Clear Your Plate campaign was actively launched, which encouraged the faculty and students to take pictures of their empty plates after meals and then send them to WeChat friends in their “friend circle”. Those receiving the images of “clean plates” were expected to do exactly the same and pass the campaign on. This started a relay of plate clearing photos being shared across the campus community. At the same time, proposal of plate clearing spread through official accounts like Youth in Tongji and Tongji Materials. There were also a collection of photos of plate clearing on display, photographers of popular ones had a chance to win a prize. Moreover, activities like poster design pertaining to plate clearing were also carried out. The success of the initiative was highlighted by the fact that the number of online participants reached over 3,500, with many creative ways of sharing in Tongji community.

Off-line activities were also simultaneously carried out, the promotion campaigns of which were entitled Clear Your Plate for the Earth and Clear the Plate for ourselves. The promotion sites located on both campuses were equipped with tips concerning frugality and environment protection as well as written proposals on which the faculty and students signed their names to show their support for the campaign. The initiative might have very well establishedthe trend of plate clearing caught on the campus, with the series of Clear Your Plate Campaign achieving its wide-ranging influence.

Volunteers hope that through these activities teaching how to cleaning plates and reduce food waste, plate clearing, will be turned into a good habit in our daily life. With the spirit of plate clearing lying in every corner of the campus, everyone willing to pass it on, the concept of plate clearing, part of Tongji Culture, is likely to have its roots deeply in everyone’s mind.

Did YOU practice plate clearing today?  

Translated by May Language Studio Based upon

http://news.tongji.edu.cn/classid-6-newsid-49577-t-show.html