By far the most important benefit of removing trays from dining halls would be a reduction in waste — savings both in less wasted food and, to a lesser extent, in water used to clean dishes and trays. Removing trays from dining halls has the effect of encouraging students to take only as much food as they can eat, thereby directly cutting down the amount of wasted food. For these reasons, several other Ivy League schools and most of the eating clubs have already implemented or tested trayless dining policies. Though real data on waste reductions from the recent Forbes trial is forthcoming, the experiences of other schools have been positive, and there is no reason to suspect Princeton’s would be different.
Importantly, the elimination of trays is a small sacrifice for students. According to a survey conducted by Greening Princeton officers, the trayless dinner was well received by students in the Forbes dining hall. Progress on environmental issues often requires individuals to make personal concessions for the betterment of the community as a whole, and the minor burden placed on students by trayless dining is well worth the savings.
It is possible, however, that students who were unenthusiastic about the policy change chose not to attend the pilot dinner in Forbes. To ensure that trayless dining is amenable to a larger population of students, the initiative should be extended to the rest of Princeton’s dining halls during the next planned trial dinner on April 22. This would allow the University to see the full effect of the policy on both students and sustainability — a chance to collect real data about what a University-wide policy would look like. If this second, larger trial does not yield overwhelming complaint from students and presents compelling savings, trayless dining should become a permanent feature at Princeton.
As a rule, the Editorial Board believes that Princeton should continuously strive to make its operations more environmentally and economically efficient. Implementing common-sense strategies, like trayless dining, can be an important part of this effort. Though it is important to continue to gauge student opinion and evaluate overall food and water savings from this initiative, we hope Princeton will choose to be trayless in the future.
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