In the spirit of Enviroware replacing styrofoam lunch trays in North Carolina schools, several schools and colleges in Ohio are getting rid of lunch trays altogether in an effort to go green in the cafeteria. Instead of smaller plates heaped on a tray, students now use one large plate for all their food. Proponents of the move point to the savings in water and energy used to clean the trays, as well as less food wasted from spills that presumably occur in between the smaller plates and due to students feeling they have more room for error when they use a tray. According to the article in the Beacon Journal, some of the schools say food waste has dropped by 50% since the inception of tray-less lunches.

Besides concerns that big plates full of hot food could burn the hands of students who have to hold them directly, the move sounds like a safe and budget-friendly way to make cafeterias more eco-friendly, assuming schools aren’t buying new big plates to replace the trays. Not all green schools have the funds or the resolve to spring for LEED® certified buildings or elaborate school gardens, so virtually costless measures can make a lot of sense when it comes to PR, school spirit, and teaching students to help the environment in any way they can. Only time will tell whether it actually works, although I wonder whether anyone will be checking once the novelty wears off.

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