Spring Break
Trayless Experiment Successful
Kate King
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: News
"We did in fact have less waste without trays," O'Keefe said.
The survey demonstrated significant waste reduction even though more people visited the dining hall during the trayless dinner week than the control week, according to the results. During the control week 1,409 people ate dinner at Whitney dining hall while 1,638 people ate there during the week without dinner trays.
Dinner waste, which includes only food waste and not beverage or napkin garbage, was measured by putting the waste in trash cans and then weighing it on a large floor scale, according to O'Keefe. The researchers then subtracted the weight of the trash can and divided the weight of the waste by the number of the people who ate at the dining hall that night.
In addition to food waste, trayless dinners appear to save energy and water used by the dishwashing machines, according to the results. During the control week when trays were used, 702 dish racks passed through the dishwashing machine while only 536 were used during trayless dinners.
The reduction in dish rack usage provides "a good indication that there was some substantial water and energy saving," said Dan Britton, sustainability coordinator for OEP. Further calculations will need to be done to determine how many gallons of water and the amount of energy were saved, however.
In light of the study's results, "I think we are going to see more trayless options happening around campus," O'Keefe said, adding that a meeting will be set up, most likely after spring break, to discuss future trayless dining.
One way the university is considering a movement toward trayless dining will be to try to create a "culture change," among students, according to Dennis Pierce, director of dining services.
"In order to change the culture of a community you really need to change the mechanisms of the first-year students," Pierce said. "As students come to us this summer through orientation … the proposal given to me is that we will not be offering trays this summer. The idea is trying to get students oriented into [trayless dining]."
The survey demonstrated significant waste reduction even though more people visited the dining hall during the trayless dinner week than the control week, according to the results. During the control week 1,409 people ate dinner at Whitney dining hall while 1,638 people ate there during the week without dinner trays.
Dinner waste, which includes only food waste and not beverage or napkin garbage, was measured by putting the waste in trash cans and then weighing it on a large floor scale, according to O'Keefe. The researchers then subtracted the weight of the trash can and divided the weight of the waste by the number of the people who ate at the dining hall that night.
In addition to food waste, trayless dinners appear to save energy and water used by the dishwashing machines, according to the results. During the control week when trays were used, 702 dish racks passed through the dishwashing machine while only 536 were used during trayless dinners.
The reduction in dish rack usage provides "a good indication that there was some substantial water and energy saving," said Dan Britton, sustainability coordinator for OEP. Further calculations will need to be done to determine how many gallons of water and the amount of energy were saved, however.
In light of the study's results, "I think we are going to see more trayless options happening around campus," O'Keefe said, adding that a meeting will be set up, most likely after spring break, to discuss future trayless dining.
One way the university is considering a movement toward trayless dining will be to try to create a "culture change," among students, according to Dennis Pierce, director of dining services.
"In order to change the culture of a community you really need to change the mechanisms of the first-year students," Pierce said. "As students come to us this summer through orientation … the proposal given to me is that we will not be offering trays this summer. The idea is trying to get students oriented into [trayless dining]."
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