Category Archives: Trayless

Erase the Waste

Changes are afoot at the University of Florida. In addition to becoming more sustainable in general–with a goal of producing zero waste by 2015–Gator Dining Services just launched the “Erase the Waste” campaign. The program focuses on getting students and staff to think about reducing food waste. Most schools don’t ask students to change their […]

October 2, 2008 | Also posted in College, Composting | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

If you hadn’t considered the idea of trayless college cafeterias, here’s an NPR piece on it. For the most part, it illustrates why I’m such a proponent of traylessness. — — Read this waste horror story from a mom who volunteered to supervise lunch at her daughter’s school and a spirited discussion on how parents can trim lunchbox […]

September 12, 2008 | Also posted in College, Friday Buffet, International, School | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Democratic National Convention organizers aimed to divert 85 percent of its waste from the landfill, including composting food. Based on this Rocky Mountain News article, it seems like they’ll have to settle for 70 percent. In my book, that’s still quite an accomplishment, as described here. So why bar volunteers from talking to the press, […]

August 29, 2008 | Also posted in Composting, Events, Friday Buffet | Comments closed

Trayless Time of Year

Sad as it may be, the summer is coming to a close. And that means school year is fast approaching, if not already here. On this tab, I’ve been tracking the colleges that have removed trays from all-you-can eat cafeterias in an effort to reduce food waste. Happily, the announcements have been coming fast and […]

August 21, 2008 | Also posted in College | Comments closed

Breaking News: ARAMARK Trayless Study Out

ARAMARK studied trayless dining at 25 college campuses and has just published a white paper on its findings. As you’ll see in the press release, food waste decreased by 25 to 30 percent when trays were removed from dining facilities. What’s even more exciting is that the food service provider estimated that more than half […]

July 24, 2008 | Also posted in College, General | Comments closed

News Day

Across all media, yesterday was a big day for food waste news. First, CBS’ The Early Show had a segment on food waste, echoing an earlier one on The Today Show. Then (MS)NBC ran an AP story on how Americans waste produce. The story had some useful tips on how to avoid losses amongst your […]

July 24, 2008 | Also posted in Household | Comments closed

Thursday Buffet

Japan wastes one-fourth of their food, according to Japan’s Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry. As reported in China Daily, Japan tosses 19 million tonnes of food waste annually (about one-third of which is edible at the time of tossing). That percentage is a bit less than the U.S. (estimates range from one-fourth to one-half and […]

July 3, 2008 | Also posted in Food Recovery, Friday Buffet, International, Supermarket | Comments closed

Virginia Tech II

Last week, I wrote about a food waste weighing week at Virginia Tech created and implemented by Andy Sarjahani, a soon-to-be registered dietitian. Sarjahani (that’s him pictured below) and other student volunteers weighed the waste from each meal during a week with trays and a week without. After comparing the numbers, they found that removing […]

May 28, 2008 | Also posted in College, Stats | Comments closed

The Weight of Waste

Why remove trays from “all-you-can-eat” cafeterias? To avoid the routine piles of food waste. In April, a student-led campaign at Virginia Tech weighed food waste for a week as a baseline for comparison to a week without trays. What they found, might startle you. Have a look. (Photos courtesy of VT Dietetic Intern Andy Sarjahani, […]

May 22, 2008 | Also posted in College, General | Comments closed

No Tray Earth Day

The 109 schools listed below all went trayless on Earth Day (4/22). That means that they removed trays from at least one dining hall, cafe, student union or other food service venue to reduce the amount of food waste and energy and water usage. And these are just the Sodexo-supplied schools (well done!) that went […]

May 1, 2008 | Also posted in College, Energy | Comments closed