College classes all across the country have found a new way to help the environment and cut down on their costs: they’re yanking cafeteria trays. In a move that many environmental activists are cheering, many colleges have removed trays from cafeterias to cut down on water usage, food costs, and waste.

Many universities are citing the fact that these trays take a lot of water to wash as a reason for getting rid of them. This article says that school kitchens take up a lot of water to wash dishes, with a large amount of that water going toward washing these large trays. By removing them, they are taking away a large part of the daily dish load.

Another reason schools are citing for getting rid of the trays is cutting back on food waste. Many schools claim that, when given a large tray, many students will continue to wander around the food areas putting food onto their tray until the tray is completely full, even if the student knows they will not eat that much. By getting rid of the trays, the schools say students will have to think about how much they really want to eat, so as to not waste precious carrying space with items they may not want to eat. This will help the school’s budgets by eliminating a lot of uneaten food from being thrown away, meaning the school may not have  to order as much, and they will be able to see what is really popular and order those items instead of things that aren’t really selling. This will also cut down on the amount of food being put into landfills because students will not be able to load up on food they might not really want to eat.

While getting rid of trays is probably not a realistic option for your restaurant, this is a great example of thinking outside the box to cut costs and help the environment. Many people may never have thought to cut trays before the first school did because they may not have seen the potential for change there. By using this great example you can look around your business to see what you can do away with and what you really need.

Your Serv-U representative can help you determine the right amount of items you need for your restaurant to run smoothly and efficiently, so give them a call toady.