<p>I know D2 has said her school has trayless days from time to time, and D1's school has them once a week. I've read pros and cons, and haven't made up my mind. I think if schools implement them, students would eventually get used to them. More so than the waste of water involved in washing trays, what bothers me is the abundance of uneaten food that is thrown away when students have an entire tray to dump their food on (how many plates/cups can I fit on a tray?). Studies have shown that when schools go trayless, there is 25-30% less uneaten food thrown out.</p>
<p>But studies have shown that when schools go trayless, 90% less sledding is done on campus.</p>
<p>As soon as D's school started some talk about going trayless, D's friends stashed some trays away. D reported that traying was fantastic!</p>
<p>They did the same thing on cruise ships but filled the area with staff to carry your food if you wanted help. Somehow I don't think that will be the case in college cafeterias...</p>
<p>USC is already trayless, we don't need to worry about limiting student sledding. It's annoying, but I think it might save on food as people are less likely to get more food than they can eat.</p>
<p>Since they're not very likely to pass on the savings or make the food any better, screw them. My place is trayless, though it's not like I'll eat any less--they just have to clean up the table after me instead of washing the tray now. Oh well.</p>
<p>bunsenburner - you know... if they want to stash trays away, and be responsible for carrying them back and forth to the cafeteria, I don't see a problem with that. They might be a bit more careful about overloading their plates and spilling food on the tray if they have to clean them.</p>
<p>Am glad to hear a large school has already made it a policy. I do think they'd have to replace most of their plates with ones that are more user friendly for someone carrying just a plate and maybe a glass.</p>
<p>Piterbizon - I don't think they're doing it to get people to eat less, but to keep people from putting too much food on their plates, then throwing a bunch of it out that they haven't eaten. Over time, they'd be able to figure out a more efficient quantity of food to prepare that better reflects what the students are actually eating, not the food they're putting on their trays, just because they can, then throwing out what they can't finish.</p>
<p>teriwtt, D goes to a women's college. There is no way they'd overload their trays! And for most part, the trays are not needed since the food is all you can eat whenever the cafeteria is open kind of a plan.
(D said the trays were kept in a secure undisclosed location until the first snowstorm.)</p>
<p>I'm for eliminating the waste of food in college cafeterias! However, elimination of trays could lead to a lot more mess on the cafeteria floors due to plates being balanced on the arms.</p>
<p>Penn is trayless. It was annoying for like two days but then I got used to it. We just get one or two plates at a time and go back for more if we want it.</p>
<p>The university where I work has made efforts to go trayless. I understand it could save money (both on wasted food and washing trays) but I eat in a dining hall most days and I hate it! It's a mess! Food that used to slip from plates on to trays now slips on to the floor and tables. It's horrible. (Yes, they do try to keep up with cleaning but it's a losing battle!)</p>
<p>Bring back the trays!</p>
<p>My S' school has gone trayless one day a week also to see how much less water and energy is used on those days. I never thought about wasted food.</p>
<p>I don't get it. How do you carry your plates, bowls, glass, etc without a tray? Balance it all up your arm like a waitress at Denny's?</p>
<p>I hope I remember this correctly:
UT Austin switched to quite small trays and they report it has saved on wasted food.</p>
<p>(I think this is what happened.)</p>
<p>Aren't a bunch of schools trayless? S's private HS went trayless at the start of the school year. The uproar was tremendous, but as expected, they all got used to it. S says it just means he has to make more trips to the drink machines, but really no big deal. My question is, what are these schools doing with all the now unused trays? Not all of them could have been stashed away for traying in the winter.</p>
<p>I remember reading somewhere that while it does save on food waste, the number of slip and fall increases significantly.</p>
<p>I went to a trayless school with a small dining room, so walking back and forth was no big deal. But at a large school, it would be quite a hassle to make multiple trips across a big room, especially if there are long lines to wait in each time, or if I didn't feel safe leaving my backpack (with laptop) at my table and had to carry it with me.</p>
<p>DougBetsy-- Make two trips, one for food and one for drinks?</p>
<p>Oh man: dinner time for me meant 6 glasses of drinks (I'd be going right after practice or working out) and my entre plate. Can't imagine how I'd done it. I support efforts to waste less food however...</p>
<p>BTW: "traying" isn't only using a tray to sled during cold times. "traying" is also a method of freezing a noxious liquid into a thin sheet which can be slid beneath the prankster victim's door. Not kidding</p>
<p>I don't get how you're supposed to carry utensils, loaded plate, and drink without a tray, personally. Are you supposed to go back and forth for them? Clutch one under your arm? Risk spilling? </p>
<p>I wouldn't have a problem with smaller trays, but I'm glad that my university isn't trayless just because the tray makes a convenient way to carry multiple small items (plate, glass, fork, etc.) without spilling.</p>
<p>Is anyone else now thinking about Bluto Blutarsky making his way through the cafeteria line?</p>