Sustainable Ideas...

No Tray policies are spreading on university campuses. Some started this Earth Day and hopefully, more will start No Tray policies this school year. Between 50 and 60 percent of the colleges that Aramark works with went tray-less, as did 109 colleges that use Sodexo went tray-less last year.

Going tray-less, as noted in Slashfood, helps reduce food and water waste—students waste less, and there’s less water used to clean trays, a key point for states that experience a lot of drought. An Aramark study found that when a campus started a No Tray policy, they reduced food waste by 25 to 30 percent.

As Wasted Food reported earlier this year, the trayless movement is taking off, and not without its share of backlash. Where do you stand—tray or no tray?

Photo from Cooking with Kids. And, in the spirit of back to school, here’s more on green universities.