La Posada donated more than $200 worth of food to the Road Runner Food Bank during the kickoff of its conservation program, Trayless Mondays.
On Trayless Mondays, students are asked to not use trays when they eat at La Posada.
"What we're hoping to accomplish is to reduce the amount of wasted food," said Donna Provost, director of the dining hall.
Provost said the program started five weeks ago and will continue until the end of the semester.
Before the program began, she set out all the trays that were used, collected the wasted food from them into trash bins and weighed it.
"When you come in and you're hungry and you have all these options, you get more food, and a tray makes it possible to carry it," she said.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Studies have shown that if students have to carry individual plates, they will take less food, Provost said.
"The first week that we measured, we had 975 pounds of waste, which is quite a bit for one day," she said. "On the first Monday without trays, we had a 30 percent reduction."
For every 5 percent reduction in waste on Trayless Mondays, Chartwells will donate $25 worth of food to the Road Runner Food Bank, she said.
On Nov. 3, students used 1,075 plates and 861 take-out trays. Those plates generated 393 pounds of waste, and Provost estimated about 215 pounds of waste came from the take-out trays, said Robert Moss, a resident adviser at Laguna.
"That is a 15 percent reduction in waste, and $75 dollars that Chartwells will use to buy food to donate to Road Runner," Moss said.
The program also reduces the amount of water used to wash trays, Provost said.
"That is one thing we noticed right away - the dish machine ran less than half the time on Mondays," she said.
It takes about half a gallon of water to wash one tray, she said.
Junior Philip Reid goes to La Posada about four times a day and said it is a hassle to not have trays.
"I think they have their mind in the right place, but going out with trays does cause some issues," he said. "When you want a burger, fries, a slice of pizza and a drink, you can't carry it all at once."
Provost acknowledged that many students are having this problem with the trayless system, but she said she hopes students realize the difference they are making through the program.
