7.05.08 centerpiece
Intuitively, this seems plausible. However, Gehrt said that, "during the pilot week at D2, the head count actually went up by 360 guests per day."
Other students are more concerned with other areas of sustainability. Senior Kevin Finelli eats at D2 at least once a day, sometimes three times.
"I think the university has the right intentions with this plan, but there are still other changes that I would like to see such as removing or reducing the use of Styrofoam containers," Finelli said.
"If anything, they should have done something really important and gotten rid of that really terrible Styrofoam waste. Getting rid of the trays at D2 was just easier," Hogan said.
"I think taking away the trays is a good idea for cutting down on food waste and helping the campus stay more fit, even," said junior Julia Alspaugh. "However, I think a much more significant improvement could be made to the dining facilities - stop using Styrofoam. I feel worse throwing away Styrofoam plates and cups that clog up landfills than throwing away extra food which, even if it is horribly wasteful and costly, will contribute to bacteria growth in landfills."
Dining Services plans to address the Styrofoam issue with a goal of implementing an alternative this year, but only time will tell. Many students have protested its use in the past to no avail. Dining Services hopes to involve other departments on campus and local community members in the effort.
"We anticipate finding alternatives to Styrofoam for our to-go containers and also are researching reusable to-go bags to cut down on the use of plastic bags," Gehrt said.
Many students have other concerns with the lack of trays. Some feel as though they are more likely to drop their plates, causing more waste.
"During the trial week, I tried to stack things up to keep myself to one trip through the lines, but that arrangement turned out to be awfully precarious. The food savings will probably be offset by an increase in broken plates," said senior Peter Kauffmann.
Dining Services did not provide data on dropped or broken dinnerware.
Dining Services says that it's not finished making changes in the name of sustainability.
"Overall, we are looking to establish a major composting program, larger recycling programs across the university, sustainability initiatives and more locally sourced items," Gehrt said.
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Who honestly thinks that the reduction of food waste by thousands of pounds per year will be offset by the number of broken plates? Is that guy seriously a SENIOR at VT?
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I think he was probably joking...
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I know the guy. He was definitely joking.
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Well, might prevent people from eating to mutch too. but, of course the reason is also to save total costs for dining services, it's just as the hotels ask you to save the towels to be enviromentally friendly.
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I know the guy, too. He doesn't take much of anything seriously.
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Most definitely the underlying reason that this is being pushed into place is the fact that Dining Services will save thousands in overall food costs. Just look at the styrofoam issue, that hasn't made it through even though there are environmentally friendly alternatives - but the alternatives cost more than styrofoam and would mean increased costs for dining services. Bottom line is Dining Services is ONLY interested in sustainability when it means saving them money.
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hahaha definitely a joke. an indirect reminder that dining services is purely concerned with money and not becoming more environmentally friendly...
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my own convenience is more important than the environment. if you disagree with that, you need to make some serious changes in your life.
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The cost for dining plans should also go down as well if they really are saving money at our convenience expense. More than half the cost of dining plans go to the facility and not our food!
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Where else are people going to eat during the summer? These statistics are meaningless so far. And even still not until Spring could the majority of guests respond their satisfaction/dissatisfaction with this change as the meal plan you chose is integral in choosing where they eat.
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