Trayless Dining at Verney-Woolley
Starting Wednesday, October 15, the V-Dub is going trayless! (V-Dub staff has been dining trayless since mid-September.) We will be conducting waste and energy audits to determine if this program is effective and we will share the results with students and the campus community. Based on these audits, we may investigate trayless dining at the Refectory, where it is logistically more challenging. Trays will always be available for people with a disability or other physical or medical challenge.
Why Trayless?
It's an environmental and economic win-win. Here's the scoop on trayless dining:
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Reduces food waste and associated trucking for removal. A recent survey of 25 colleges found greater than a 25% reduction in food waste per person with trayless dining. That adds up when you serve thousands of customers every day!
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Conserves energy and water for washing. It takes 1/3 to 1/2 gallon of heated water to wash every tray.
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Reduces the usage of detergents and drying agents and their outflow into the water table.
Trayless Dining in the Media
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Trays soon to be a memory at V-Dub
– Brown Daily Herald -
Students doing balancing act as colleges drop cafeteria trays
– Boston Globe -
Will 'green' movement kill the meal tray?
– CNN -
US university campuses ban cafeteria trays in effort to go green
– Guardian -
Trash the Trays
– Harvard Crimson -
Latest go-green effort: Cafeterias dumping trays
– MSNBC -
Trayless dining reduces waste, saves energy
– Portland Press Herald -
Students take a crash course in Trayless Dining 101
– Star Tribune - Going Greener for Fall: UC’s Residential Restaurants Eliminate Food Trays
– UC News - More college cafeterias dump food trays
USA Today