On Cafeteria Trays

Yesterday on Facebook, the Carleton College page posted a video blog entry about traying- a time-honored winter tradition. Ah, yes, "borrow" a cafeteria tray and use it to slide down the big snow-covered hill. Much fun!

I commented, "I wonder if Carleton will go the way of other colleges and stop using trays in the cafeteria. They say that it reduces waste from people taking more than they can eat, plus it saves water by not having to wash the trays. If Carleton does go that way, perhaps they can assign trays to each dorm room. So, each student gets 1 bed, 1 dresser, 1 tray."

Carleton answered back that they had tried some trayless days, but it hadn't gone over very well. (I'm surprised they didn't comment on my great suggestion about standard room issue.)

So, today I went to eat lunch at the Harvey Mudd cafeteria which has already implemented traylessness. (I ran into a prof who brings his own tray - a gift from his wife with his name written on it.) I think I do actually take less food when I have to revert back to my waitressing days and carry two plates (one salad, one chicken fettuccine), one fork and a cup of water. And I don't need a tray for sledding since we have no snow, or hills, around here.

Check out the article at the NYTimes about this issue.