Campus Dining & Shops (CDS) is continuing efforts to help the university become more environmentally friendly by getting rid of trays in the Red Jacket, Governors and Richmond Dining Centers.
Removing trays from the dining halls will make students take only the food they will eat, resulting in less food waste. This will help reduce water, chemicals and energy spent cleaning the trays and plates used for wasted food.
"We will save around 48,000 pounds in food waste, and a quarter of a gallon of water per tray won't be used, saving thousands of gallons of water," said Ray Kohl, CDS marketing manager.
CDS removed the trays from the Goodyear Hall Dining Center at the beginning of the fall semester as a trial run and had positive results.
Kohl explained that an experiment of the Weigh The Waste program comparing the food waste between trayless Goodyear and Red Jacket, which used trays, found a 50 percent reduction in waste.
Goodyear students also had a favorable reaction to dropping the trays.
"Students are aware of the environmental problem and are glad to see the CDS go in this direction," Kohl said. "Students have said they feel more comfortable without trays, like they are more at home."
Surveys conducted in each of the dining centers that are going trayless found that students support the initiative and the efforts to help the environment.
"I think it's a noble cause," said Amanda Carlson, a sophomore linguistics major. "I don't see anything wrong with it. Some people will have issues, but there always are."
Kohl believes is it important for colleges to look at everything to find ways to cut back their carbon footprint. He projects that all colleges will join the movement to help the environment by getting rid of the trays.
Students living in Red Jacket see the program as a good way to cut back on food waste.
"It makes a lot of sense; you see a lot of food get thrown away because kids try to eat as much as they can," said Elias Behar, a sophomore business major.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
