After four weeks of Trayless Tuesdays, students have expressed mixed feelings about the new style of dining, one of Commons’ sustainability efforts. “I don’t really like Trayless Tuesdays because it just seems like it is a huge hassle and makes a big mess. Students don’t clean up after themselves, making the job for the Commons workers even harder,” said Thao Nguyen ’07. “I think that the reasons…are good, but I also think that Commons can come up with better ways to preserve energy,” said Spencer Macquarrie ’10. “On average, I probably have to go back and forth out of the kitchen probably six or seven times. It’s a real hassle to not have trays to carry everything around, especially since I like to get a lot of food on my plates for all that I eat.” On the other hand, Stephanie Clegg ’08 strongly supports the new efforts toward waste management and eco-friendly dining. She said, “Trayless Tuesdays [are] something that’s very simple but can make a huge impact. We’ve done other things like the Green Cup Challenge that show that Andover has become very proactive in trying to conserve energy. Trayless Tuesdays [are] just another one of the small things we can do…that makes such an impact.” “Also, because of Trayless Tuesdays, it’s become habitual for me to just grab a plate and walk in line, rather than using a tray to carry my food,” she continued. “It makes you realize how much food you are wasting when you don’t have a tray and you have to clean everything up by yourself,” said Christina Coravos ‘08 Blaine Johnson ’08 suggested another way Commons could improve sustainability efforts. She said, “I like the idea, but I think we could achieve a similar ecological goal by starting a compost bucket or changing the napkin dispensers less often.” Faculty members also shared their opinions on Trayless Tuesdays. Instructor in History Emma Frey said, “I think the principle of Trayless Tuesdays is an excellent idea, and it raises an awareness of both food and energy waste. However, if you’re only doing it once a week, it’s inconvenient because you are not in the habit of eating trayless.” “I find Trayless Tuesdays an inconvenience, because to get all of the food that I want to eat, along with silverware and plates and cups, I have to make two trips since I can’t carry it all with only two hands. Also, I am wondering what the situation will be next year when we don’t have a Commons, such as if we will we get get to use trays at all?” – Instructor in Mathematics Mr. David Penner “I think [Trayless Tuesdays] is a hassle, but it’s nice to see people wasting less and being thoughtful about their choices.” – Instructor in English Ms. Stephanie Curci On March 27th, the Andover Dining Services Team implemented their new trayless program, in which all trays are removed from Commons dining halls every Tuesday. Instead of using trays to carry food and beverages, students carried plates and cups by hand. After eating, they cleared out their own food by throwing away waste and separating utensils, plates, and cups. Michael Giampa, Commons Operations Manager, said, “I think that this trayless dining program is important because sustainability is here to stay… Pretty soon, every school will have to do something to reduce their waste. I think that it’s important for Andover to get used to this simple step, because there are bigger changes coming down the road.” Andover’s Sustainability Coordinator, Rebecca Bogdanovitch, wholly supported this effort to reduce waste and become a “greener” partner. “The Sustainability Office works to create an environmentally aware campus that recognizes its long-term impact on the local and global community. A waste reduction program like Trayless Tuesdays is valuable because it educates the community about its current consumption, encourages members to think strategically about reducing their impact, and conserves natural resources like food, water and fuel,” said Ms. Bogdanovitch. A similar program began at the University of Maine at Farmington last year, according to Mr. Giampa. The university students wanted to conduct case studies determining the effect of trays on the reduction of waste and consumption. They started with a Trayless Tuesdays program and expanded it to Thursdays. Seeing the impact of trayless dining two days a week, the university decided to make their café entirely trayless. After witnessing the success of trayless dining at UMF, and other schools such as Brandeis University and University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Phillips Academy decided to adopt the program as well. Cheryl Notartomosa is the Sustainability Coordinator for Aramark Corporation, the food service company that caters for Andover dining. She believed that Phillips Academy was a good candidate for going trayless. In the first two Trayless Tuesdays, Commons saved 720 pounds of food waste. On Trayless Tuesdays, the Commons dishwasher ran 50% less, saving nearly 1350 gallons of water per day, since 7500 fewer trays, plates and cups are washed. As well, less electricity is required to heat the dishwasher. Also, food production and consumption at Commons is reduced by 8% on Tuesdays, decreasing the environmental impact of transporting food. Trayless Tuesdays encourages diners to control the amount of food they take, thus reducing the waste of uneaten food. Commenting on the impact of Trayless Tuesdays on waste reduction, Mr. Giampa said, “The effects are a huge reduction in waste and utilities. Just by observing a regular lunch verses a trayless lunch, one can see the obvious differences. On trayless days, we don’t run out of cups, plates or bowls; our hot line gets refilled less often, as do the milk machines. Our dishwashing staff spends more time cleaning their areas than they do cleaning plates and trays.” Ms. Bogdanovitch said, “Andover is not the first school to go down this road. St. Paul’s School’s [trayless] program is well established and our peer schools are close behind. The idea also exists at the college level where schools have sought to raise awareness about food waste on their campuses.” Despite these sentiments, some students are still opposed to the idea of trayless dining and complain that carrying food without trays is a nuisance. Andover’s dining services hope to expand Trayless Tuesdays into multiple days in the future. However, they do not plan on adding a day until the Trayless Tuesdays are mastered. There are also no finalized plans for completely trayless dining in the newly renovated Commons, although it is still a possibility. “I don’t really mind Trayless Tuesdays since I don’t use trays very much anyways,” said Molly Shoemaker ’08. “However, what we as a school should really be focusing on is what we’re doing with our leftover food. If Trayless Tuesdays helps us to decrease our food production and waste, then let’s keep doing it.” Sean Hilton ’07 added, ““If the trade-offs for Trayless Tuesdays are using less energy and eating less food, then it’s all right that we’re just a little bit more uncomfortable on Tuesdays.”
