Luther Cafeteria goes "Trayless"

Luther College Dining Services has “gone trayless” for three months as part of the college’s sustainability initiative and is now evaluating the pros and cons of trayless cafeteria operations.

Dining Services removed cafeteria trays to help reduce food waste and conserve resources. Cleaning the trays after each meal requires 700 gallons of water and two hours of dishwashing time, which sustainability advocates consider an expensive ecological and financial cost to pay for dining convenience.

Warren Palm, director of Dining Services at Luther College, first suggested the idea for a trayless cafeteria during the 2007 fall semester after reading journal articles about universities on the East Coast that removed trays and saw reduction in water, detergent, electricity, and a 30 percent decrease in food waste.

“Kitchens are traditionally one of the biggest users of water, heat and electricity on campus while also generating a huge amount of compostable and recyclable materials,” said Palm. “When you add wasted food on top of that, you can see how important sustainability becomes.”