Trayless trial saves resources

Students will be surveyed on trayless dining with an e-mail.

By Luke Udstuen

Published Dec. 1, 2009

Dining halls reported both less food waste and less water usage during the trayless trial.

Students were served 53,917 meals during the trayless trial and found an average of 1.19 fewer ounces of food were wasted when trays were given only to those who requested them.

Residence Halls Association President Rachael Feuerborn said the trayless trial provided a much-needed foray into a topic that hadn't previously been acted upon.

"I think it will open people's eyes," Feuerborn said about the resources saved. "Our findings are pretty much on par with what other universities have found."

Students will receive a survey in their e-mail inboxes this week that will include the amount of food saved. Through this survey, students will be allowed to voice their opinions about the trayless trial.

"We determined the amount by weighing the edible food and beverage waste from 100 customers' trays at each lunch and dinner from Monday through Friday of the challenge week and dividing the total weight by 100," Campus Dining Services Director Julaine Kiehn said in an e-mail. "We then averaged the meals to get the ounces per person. For comparison purposes, we collected the same information for the previous week."

The report calculated how many trays were used during trayless dining by students who requested them or were needed for dish collection and found that approximately 20 percent of meals served used trays.

The trayless trial saved 14,234 gallons of water in trays not washed, the report stated.

"Additional savings could be expected in the energy saved by not heating the additional water and in associated chemical costs," CDS Associate Director Steve Simpson said in an e-mail.

Baja Grill participated in trayless, but though trays were omitted, orders were given out in brown paper bags, freshman Jacqueline Sachs said.

RHA questioned whether Baja should go trayless but decided in the end to go through with it, Feuerborn said.

Feuerborn said the way in which Baja operates eliminated the benefits trayless would provide.

"I don't think Baja is our biggest concern because people often eat with their eyes, rather than with how hungry they are," Feuerborn said. "But with Baja, you use points to order, whereas in the dining halls you can take as much food as you want."

Student reaction on the trayless trial was mixed, but many acknowledged the benefits it provided.

"I don't think it was an inconvenience because you can only get one serving anyway when you go up in line," sophomore Brittney Burks said. "At first I didn't like it, but it stops people from wasting food. People get ridiculous amounts of food and throw half of it away, so I think trayless was good."

Freshman Kevin Kaler said the inconvenience of not having trays outweighed the resources saved. But Burks said the benefits were worth the small inconvenience.

"It's an inconvenience when you're getting to your seat, but overall, I liked not having trays," Burks said. "With trays, you waste more plates and cups. People eat with their eyes instead of their stomachs."

Some students don't want to see the idea of trayless dining put away for good.

"I think they should test out trayless again," Burks said.