Going Green @ Haverford

The Dining Center will be going trayless on Tuesdays starting April 13, 2010. Each tray washed uses 1/3-1/2 gallon of water and demands energy to heat the water and run the dishwasher. That’s $0.50 in energy, water, detergent, and labor costs per rack of dishes.

Not using a tray in the Dining Center comes with big benefits:

• If every dining center customer uses a tray, it costs $843.75 per week – or $27,000 per year – in energy, water, detergent, and labor costs.
• Going trayless could reduce food waste by 25-30%

Brought to you by EarthQuakers, CER, and the Dining Center.

Questions? hcearthquakers@gmail.com

By going trayless at your next meal …………….                            

-You could possibly waste 25-30 percent less food.

-For each tray that is not washed it saves between a third to half-gallon of water.

Haverford is one of a growing number of colleges and universities going trayless. While Haverford’s program is voluntary many other institutions around the country are not so kind. Middlebury College made the decision in August 2007 to go completely trayless. Mathew Biette, Director of Dining Services, evaluated the wastefulness of using trays and decided to eliminate them. “I talked with some students who suggested we just go with the idea rather than waiting to have long, drawn-out discussions” Said Biette. “Their feeling was the more discussion that would happen, the less likely we would be able to make an impact or implement taking the trays out of the dining hall.” Other schools have taken a lesser approach by instituting “Trayless Tuesdays”.

So, the next time you’re up at the DC, or for that matter any restaurant, think of the environment before taking that tray.