04/04/08

Baker University students experienced an usual day eating in the cafeteria March 27.

Students may have been surprised to find that they had to carry their food in an unfamiliar way on that Thursday.

Earth We Are, the student group dedicated to creating student awareness for the environment, collaborated with food service employees to remove trays from the food line.

“We were seeing if the cafeteria workers would go tray-less,” EWA President Sarah Romereim said.

The project was proposed by EWA member Megan Renehan after she talked to other colleges who had implemented a similar routine. The purpose of the study was to find out the waste of food and water trays created in the cafeteria.

“Each rack of trays washed used 20.48 gallons of water for one lunch period,” Romereim said. “People also weren’t able to carry the same amount of food without trays.”

EWA began the study over a month ago, measuring the initial amount of wasted food with trays versus the amount without trays. EWA tried to measure the same meal but encountered a problem in the plan.

“The amount of food wasted had to be approximate, because of spring break, it threw off the four-week schedule,” Romereim said.

EWA found through the study that wasted food was almost cut in half when trays were removed. Along with the study, EWA used a survey March 27 to ask students what they thought about the situation.

“We used tray-less (March 27) to gauge the response of people who were eating in the cafeteria,” Romereim said. “We tried to get a wide range for the survey.”

People were stationed at each exit from the cafeteria, and some walked around tables to poll students. Out of 235 students who ate in the cafeteria March 27, 119 were surveyed. The survey covered how students liked not having trays and if they would want to have meals without trays again.

Some students seemed to enjoy the thought of eating without trays.

“It didn’t bother me at all,” sophomore Rachael Moon said. “The only thing is, if we don’t have trays, it’s kind of a sanitary issue with the silverware.”

However, other students disliked the meal.

“I wouldn’t mind doing it on occasion,” freshman Eric Ford said. “However, with all the tuition costs, we should be able to use trays.”

EWA plans to continue “tray-less Thursday” until the end of the year.