John Jay Dining Hall's trayless program was initiated this semester in an effort to reduce food waste and to conserve the water and energy needed to wash about 1,400 trays after each meal. Victoria Dunn, Associate Director of Dining Services, says that removing trays "forces students to make a conscious decision about the food they can consume in one sitting."

In the two months since the initiative began, most reaction revolves around "the tradeoff."

Students are quick to tell a visitor how much they dislike having to make two or more trips from the food line with their various bowls, plates, glasses and cups. But they're equally quick to say they'll gladly live with the inconvenience, given the sustainability benefits carefully explained to them by the Housing & Dining and Environmental Stewardship Departments, and by student EcoReps.

Other students say that making deliberate choices about what and how much they eat is a valuable by-product of going trayless. As she enjoys her brunch consisting of an omelet, home fries, fruit and milk, Melissa Brito, BC '10, says she now thinks more about her food selections - including that donut she's decided not to go back for.

Since the beginning of the semester, monitoring by Dining Services has determined an average saving of 3,000 gallons of water daily as well as approximately 50 pounds of wasted food per meal. The 50 pounds of food are in contrast to an average 192 pounds wasted per meal during the first semester of 2007.

Unserved food from John Jay is donated each week to City Harvest, a non-profit agency whose mission is to end hunger in New York City and the surrounding boroughs.

The food waste monitoring is handled in collaboration with the EcoReps, students who work with Housing & Dining and the Department of Environmental Stewardship on campus environmental initiatives and serve as educational liaisons between the University and students on sustainability issues.

For several years, the EcoReps have conducted plate-scrapings at John Jay Dining Hall.

Waste food, liquid and paper products have been weighed, with results communicated to fellow students. The first scraping of the current academic year was held on September 22. They are now scheduled on the second and fourth Thursday of every month.

to celebrate the success of the trayless project, Dining Services plans to serve a special monthly meal. The first, on September 24, featured peel-and-eat shrimp. Posters with information about the food waste reduction were prominently displayed.