FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The three dining halls on the University of Arkansas campus have put away their trays. Brough Commons and the Northwest Quad officially removed trays during the week of Aug. 20. Pomfret dining hall hurdled a dish-washing equipment barrier and made the trayless move during the week of Aug. 25.

“There are many benefits to be gained from removing trays in our dining hall operations,” said Morgan Stout, director of operations for Chartwells, which operates dining services on campus. “The primary advantages include a great reduction in post-consumer food waste and reduction in electric energy as well as water savings.”

When students take only one serving or plate at a time, they are likely to leave less food on their plate. The university does not yet have a way of composting food wastes, which require special treatment in order to be composted. Currently, the total amount of food waste goes to the community’s landfill.

Estimates, based on historical and comparative operational data, are that the university will reduce food waste from 433,500 pounds per academic year to 225,000 pounds.

Removing trays from the list of items that need to be run through dining hall dish-washing machines means an estimated savings of 200,000 gallons of water and thousands of kilowatt-hours of electricity per academic year. In addition, reducing the number of washer loads will reduce the amount of detergent compounds going down the drain.

University and Chartwells officials hope that there will also be a health benefit to removing trays. Students today are increasingly aware of the advantages of eating healthy, size-appropriate portions. The hope is that dining without the use of a tray will encourage students to take only one helping at a time, giving their bodies more of chance to tell them when they are full. The result may not only be a reduction in food waste, but also a reduction in oversized portions consumed.

“I am proud of Chartwells for taking such a bold move to teach us about important global issues that our generation faces. The amount of educational material that has been provided for students about the benefits of losing the trays has been enough to convince most all of us that it is the right thing to do,” said Jonathan Carlsmith, a junior majoring in journalism. “Going trayless has been easy. It hasn't been as inconvenient as most students first thought. We don't think about having trays anymore. Most freshman don't even know that we ever had trays. Taking big steps is how you get things to change.”

The University Sustainability Council backed the initiative during a summer meeting. The expectation is that the savings realized will contribute positively to the university’s annual green house gas report.

Additional information and stories of other U.S. campus trayless initiatives can be found at: http://www.wastedfood.com/trayless/.