Campus cafeterias go trayless

Three universities around Halifax are ditching trays to save water and promote environmental practises.

University of King's College, Acadia and Saint Mary's University are the latest schools to get rid of trays in their campus cafeterias. It's the first time each school has fully disposed of trays, but the idea was tested last year at each campus with weekly tray-free days designed to test student reactions.

All three schools say their decision to drop the trays was based on what's best for the environment. Scott Roberts, an Acadia spokesperson, said that losing trays will result in substantial food, water and energy savings. He says that Acadia alone will reduce its food wastage by 25% and save just less than 1,900,000 litres of water within the next year. 

Cafeterias go green

Joe Mackary, SMU's director of food services, says that students support the university's trayless buffet-style service. It's a win-win scenario for students because they get to dine heartily and generate less waste.

"It's more environmentally friendly than it's ever been," he said. "Any food scraps go into composting."

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King's students dine trayless. (Photo: Laura Hochman)

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Sneak peek into the bathing habits of a King's Prince Hall tray.

At Acadia, Roberts said the decision to go trayless was largely driven by the student body.

"Everyone from vegans to members of the football team have responded well," he said.

Still, plastic ghosts of the past linger. Mackary estimates that there are still one hundred unused trays left over at SMU. Trays are fiberglass-reinforced, making them difficult to recycle. He said that they have donated leftover trays to schools which still use them, such as Mount Saint Vincent University.

Trayless dining "a pain"

Not everyone is buying into the campaign. King's student Phil Taber thinks that the benefits of trayless dining are negligible.

"It's a publicity campaign for the environmentalists on campus and I don't think it's really as effective as they've led us to believe," he said. "I recognize the benefit of what's trying to be done. I just think the benefit of being without trays doesn't outweigh the awkwardness."

Peter Clarke, a former University of New Brunswick and current King's student, agrees.

"It's a pain in the ass," said Clarke. "When I went to UNB, you could put all your plates, glasses and dessert all on one tray in one go."

Saving the environment and money

King's, though trayless for students, still uses them to transport dirty dishes to the dishwasher. However, they have gone from using 375 per meal to 48 trays. The rest have gone into storage. Food and liquid waste has been cut more than half, said Celine Beland, the head of Sodexo who provides food for King's.

King's Bursar Gerry Smith is cautiously optimistic about the results of going trayless.

"We are just starting an energy audit now," he wrote in an email. "But the difference in the water saved by going trayless will not be large enough to capture on our cost summaries."

Acadia, however, expects its savings to be more significant. The money saved by Chartwell, its food provider, will be funnelled back into student events.

Acadia has yet to issue their savings in dollars, but that's not the point.

"The savings are incidental to our environmental footprint," said Roberts. "It's hard to measure them in financial terms. This is an environmental initiative."

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