"All areas of Student Programs, including Dining Services, are looking for ways to become more environmentally friendly. One way to make a major impact is to reduce the disposal of edible food waste in the all-you-care-to-eat facilities," said Katie Gehrt, marketing and communications manager for Dining Services.

The move is far from a revolutionary change in the way dining centers are run across the country. Several campuses, including the University of Delaware, Dartmouth College and the University of Maine have taken the same action. Clemson is reported to have saved 4,585 gallons of water in its trayless stint during Earth Week.

Most universities credit the savings to the fact that students really have to think carefully about which foods they select. They cannot simply pile everything on, eat what looks good, and throw the rest away. However, many students are not convinced.

The official campus notice reported that during that week in April, there was " … a 38 percent reduction in food waste, or the equivalent of 1,546 pounds of food."

"If it cuts down on food waste, then it cuts down on food waste and in my opinion, there's no argument there. As a society, we are highly wasteful as it is, and if this appears to help at all, then as Tech students we should do our part," said sophomore physics and French major John Hoffman.

While the move at other universities tended to be largely unnoticed by new freshmen students who make up the majority of those who live on campus, and therefore must purchase a meal plan, there have been many upperclassman skeptics. Some do not like the inconvenience, and others just aren't sure of the magnitude of the difference it will make.

"There is probably no denying that going trayless does decrease the waste. I have a hard time thinking that the ones in control aren't just doing this more because it looks good than because it is actually a good thing to do," said sophomore Doug Hogan.

Other students expressed concern in the data collection, fearing that during the pilot week, more people simply avoided the inconvenience of a trayless D2, instead choosing to dine at an alternate establishment, further contributing to the crowdedness at West End Market and Owens Food Court during meal times.

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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