Posted on August 28, 2008
Green is the color on campus this fall. Both Dining Services and the Office of Residence Life initiated efforts to increase environmental sustainability, from removing trays in dining facilities to installing energy-efficient washing machines.
D-Hall and Mrs. Green’s became trayless this month and instead of picking up a tray to load with plates, cups and silverware, students now carry their dishes to a table.
“Tray-less dining, while often overlooked, is an initiative that has immediate and tangible environmental, social and economic benefits for James Madison University,” said Stepanhie Hoshower, director of Dining Services, through and e-mail.
The change was made in order to save water, energy and time within the dining halls. Since washing each tray requires one-half gallon of water, Hoshower said over 320,000 gallons of water will be saved each semester.
She also hopes waiting time to return dirty dishes will decrease for students since more dishes can pass through the existing conveyer belt on a new shelf-style system.
After testing the trayless approach on Earth Day in April, Hoshower said the positive feedback was an indicator of the initiative’s future success.
Junior Hannah Doerwaldt, a resident advisor in Shorts Hall, believes JMU’s green efforts are beneficial.
“Having D-Hall go tray-less is one of the best things Dining Services has done in the past two years I’ve been here,” said Doerwaldt, an international relations major. “It’s very environmentally conscious and shows that JMU is on the forefront.”
The transformation comes as just a part of Dining Services’ campus-wide Green Thread environmental-stewardship platform, which aims to minimize waste and conserve natural resources. Other aspects of the program include increased recycling stations, reusable bags and mugs.
However, not all students like the new change.
Senior Chase Horvath was irritated when he walked into D-Hall earlier this week.
“Since there are still trays, we should just be able to use them,” Horvath said. “When I go to D-Hall, I usually use six or seven plates. Now I’ll have to wait in line longer when I used to carry a tray and hit up all the stations at once.”
Hoshower said that since not all campus-dining locations have the same dish return system, they will not undergo the same change.
“We still want our students to eat as much as they care to eat and enjoy the great food at D-Hall and across campus,” Hoshower said. “This change is just doing that with an environmental conscious.”
Other changes occurred on campus over the summer as well. The Office of Residence Life is still in the process of replacing all existing washing machines to front-loading machines in dorms. Since the new washers have a larger barrel, they hold more items, which also increases water efficiency.
As clothes spin in the washers, more water
comes out so that the items come out dryer. Maggie Evans, the director of Residence Life, also said that the process saves energy in the dryers.
Residence Life also installed card readers in all laundry rooms so students can use their FLEX accounts.
“Due to fewer quarters being used, the technicians can make fewer trips to JMU to pick up coins, a gasoline savings as well,” said Evans.
As an RA, Doerwaldt has tried to help her students become aware of the sustainability changes, especially the front-loading washers. She believes that in the long run the washers may be beneficial, but for now the replacements have too many problems.
One of those problems includes the cost increase of 25 cents from $1.50 to $1.75 per load.
But sophomore psychology major Shane Boyd has had no trouble adapting to the changes across campus.
“It’s a small thing,î Boyd said. ìBut these small things can do a lot to help the current energy crisis, especially if we keep adding more small steps.”
