Trayless Dining Works

This article was archived on October 4, 2008

Dining Hall Customers Reduced Food Waste by 34%!

April 29, 2008

Last week the three dining halls were trayless in recognition of Earth Week. The aim of trayless dining is to reduce our impact on the environment. It serves as a reminder that sometimes our eyes are bigger than our stomachs. Many universities around the country have been trying out trayless dining programs at varying levels, and results show that it works very well to curb the amount of food that is thrown away.

So how did WWU’s Dining Halls fair? On Monday, April 21, customers scraped their leftover food scraps into a compost bin and dining hall staff “Weighed the Waste,” to compare the amount of food thrown away on a “Trayless” day versus a day with trays. The results were encouraging. Without trays, food waste was reduced by 631 pounds, or 34%! On just the first day of no trays, dining hall customers went from throwing an average of over 1800 pounds of food away to about 1200 pounds.

As a thank you for the patience and participation of our customers, Dining Services wrapped up the week with an array of fresh fruit on Friday, funded by the week’s waste savings. This is an example of how food waste reduction is not only good for the environment, but it benefits everyone. Ira Simon, Director of University Dining Services, explains “[Dining Services] wants to put the money saved back onto the plate.”

Trays have returned to the dining halls, but keep in mind that they are optional. Also remember that if you do choose to use a tray, try starting small and then go back for seconds if needed rather than loading up right away.