University to go trayless every day for sustainability
Practice aims to save money and water, has been well-received by students
Allison Proite
Issue date: 4/20/09 Section: Campus News
Next semester, Trayless Tuesdays will turn into trayless every day.
In the fall of 2009, no trays will be provided in any campus dining facility in an effort to make UW-Eau Claire a more sustainable campus.
More than 6,000 trays are cleaned each day, which results in 396,000 gallons of water being used for the trays, said Blugold Dining services director Christian Wise.
Wise said with Trayless Tuesdays, which was enacted in fall 2008, students have adapted very well to the change. Trayless Tuesdays expanded to Trayless Wednesdays as well.
"After a while, even on days when trays were provided, many students don't take them," he said.
Wise said that going trayless completely will not only save on water, but on wasted food as well.
"Many students actually take less food when they don't have the use of trays," he said. "It encourages people to take what they need instead of what they can just carry."
Wise said this was tested and the results showed that students take 50 percent less food when they don't have a tray to use.
"That's a ton of food to waste," he said. "As an executive chef it's tough to see all that food wasted."
Many students who use the dining services on a regular basis have become accustomed to Trayless Tuesdays.
"It was hard to get used to it at first, but now it doesn't really phase me," said junior Paul Hoff. "I think if you can save that much water by just not using trays, go for it."
As for other campuses going trayless, Wise said this has become a norm. "A lot of other campuses practice this," he said. "It's kind of a fad now."
Going trayless is just one of the many other efforts that have been made in Blugold Dining for sustainability, Wise said.
In the past year, dining areas have begun switching from using plastic to biodegradable plates, cups and utensils. All dining areas also feature reusable bowls, plates and glasses.
Other efforts Blugold dining has made is incorporating locally grown food whenever it is possible and using fair trade coffee in Intermezzos Café and Davies Corner Store.
Wise said composting has become a large part in the university's effort. Coffee grounds are collected from Intermezzo's and placed into designated buckets and used for compost.
"Going trayless is just one step," he said. "We're trying to make this a more sustainable campus."
In the fall of 2009, no trays will be provided in any campus dining facility in an effort to make UW-Eau Claire a more sustainable campus.
More than 6,000 trays are cleaned each day, which results in 396,000 gallons of water being used for the trays, said Blugold Dining services director Christian Wise.
Wise said with Trayless Tuesdays, which was enacted in fall 2008, students have adapted very well to the change. Trayless Tuesdays expanded to Trayless Wednesdays as well.
"After a while, even on days when trays were provided, many students don't take them," he said.
Wise said that going trayless completely will not only save on water, but on wasted food as well.
"Many students actually take less food when they don't have the use of trays," he said. "It encourages people to take what they need instead of what they can just carry."
Wise said this was tested and the results showed that students take 50 percent less food when they don't have a tray to use.
"That's a ton of food to waste," he said. "As an executive chef it's tough to see all that food wasted."
Many students who use the dining services on a regular basis have become accustomed to Trayless Tuesdays.
"It was hard to get used to it at first, but now it doesn't really phase me," said junior Paul Hoff. "I think if you can save that much water by just not using trays, go for it."
As for other campuses going trayless, Wise said this has become a norm. "A lot of other campuses practice this," he said. "It's kind of a fad now."
Going trayless is just one of the many other efforts that have been made in Blugold Dining for sustainability, Wise said.
In the past year, dining areas have begun switching from using plastic to biodegradable plates, cups and utensils. All dining areas also feature reusable bowls, plates and glasses.
Other efforts Blugold dining has made is incorporating locally grown food whenever it is possible and using fair trade coffee in Intermezzos Café and Davies Corner Store.
Wise said composting has become a large part in the university's effort. Coffee grounds are collected from Intermezzo's and placed into designated buckets and used for compost.
"Going trayless is just one step," he said. "We're trying to make this a more sustainable campus."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Brendan
posted 4/20/09 @ 7:02 AM CST
It is great to see that a lot of energy and money will be saved with going trayless (less water used, less work/employees needed for clean-up, and less food wasted). (Continued…)
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