If you’re among the throng of college students headed back to the quad next week, you might want to put aside the hacky sack and practice balancing your bowl of soup, salad and apple crumble instead.
CNN is reporting that many college cafeterias are going green by getting rid of those handy plastic trays that tote all your lunchables to your spot at the cool kids table. The reason? Good old-fashioned conservation. No trays means a 50% reduction in dishes that need washed at the end of the day. Saving water and saving money is growing more appealing across the U.S. of A. and the recently drought-stricken southeast is leading this movement with schools in Georgia and North Carolina being the first in line to ditch the carry-all. Surely California is next. And then we can lobby Taco Bell.
Some students have found it awkward to balance all their food with only two hands, but others are most likely saving money (and calories) by skipping that small plate of chocolate cream pie. Another benefit for the college community -- we’re going to predict that soon you will be seeing a reusable I’m-Not-a-Plastic-Tray – tray flying off the shelves at the head shops surrounding your local campus. You heard it here first.
I do remember there was A LOT of waste at the DH when I was in college. fortunately, I went to a school where they gave the waste to the Ag school which then fed it to pigs and other Ag animals.
Someone in the know told me that the green argument for not using trays in college dining halls is just a coverup for the real reason: They want kids to take less food. There is too much waste, and the dining halls are trying to cut costs. What do you think?