As the Sustainability Intern for Sodexo, I’d like to announce an upcoming initiative that will commence next week. During the month of February, Sodexo will be piloting a program to remove trays from the Cascade Dining Hall in an effort to align with SOU’s Sustainability Initiatives by reducing unnecessary waste: water, chemical and food waste. It may seem an inconvenience to some, but by trying it out and reevaluating habits of convenience versus necessary practices, I hope that such a view will altered.
How will this pilot program work? For the first two weeks, the trash cans in the dining area will be taped off so that all food waste is sent back with the trays. After each main meal, employees will sort waste into liquids, solids, and paper, then record the volume of each category. The following week, the menu will be repeated to avoid any discrepancy between food preferences and the trays will be taken away Monday through Thursday. The tray belt will be shut off and all dishes will be placed on rolling carts to be taken to the dish room. Again, employees will measure the amount of food waste after each meal.
Once we compile the food waste data (and hopefully figure out how to measure the amount of water and detergent used to wash trays), the marketing team will display the results. Then comes the fun part: a Trays versus Trayless debate! We’d like to hear both sides and make sure that this initiative isnt imposed on students without their input. So thats it, four days without trays and then we’ll engage in a civil discussion about what students truly want.
Going trayless at Elmos met with some opposition, so instead of doing Trayless Tuesdays, we encourage the abandonment of trays. Before you pick up that tray out of habit, think, Do I really even need this?
If you’re just going to be carrying a couple of things or can manage going back through the line, then dont take it!
Take this initiative as a time to reflect on how much of an impact your lifestyle makes on this planet. We live in a privileged society where luxuries come cheap and its easy to be ignorant of the environmental, social, and global ramifications of our way of life. I admit I’m a plate-licker and somehow cant fathom wasting the estimated 1.3 lbs of food that the average American throws away every day (US EPA statistics, 2000).
Going trayless isnt all about saving money on water, chemical, or food costs (though that’s a plus) and it isn’t about radically changing your lifestyle. It’s about reevaluating what is truly necessary and how routines become outdated. Its easy to make a few simple changes to your lifestyle and eventually you’ll come to wonder how you ever did such a silly thing as taking a tray when its really an inessential.
Keep an eye out for more sustainability initiatives. I cant wait to begin our compositing program.
