No tray day
October 26, 2025 1:35 PM
There has been a recent phenomena of students ditching their trays and choosing to take only what they need for their meals. Facebook events are popping up from campus to campus and some cafeteria services are incorporating Trayless Tuesdays into their schedules.
Better yet, some university students don’t even get the luxury of a tray. They simply use their hands and take what they can carry. Yes, several trips back and forth from the salad bar may have to be taken, however think of all the good that will be done.
Two UNB students had the idea to create a Facebook event to promote a no tray day at their school and it has attracted hundreds of interested students.
The event is scheduled to happen Wednesday, Oct. 20 at dinner time. The cafeteria workers have been informed, so they will be prepared to handle the lack of trays.
Studies have shown that cafeterias save up to half a gallon of water for each tray they don’t wash. Half a gallon of water is equal to the eight cups of water that are used to wash every tray.
Think about all the trays used by students here at StFX every day. That is a lot of water that could be put to better use
Not only are students wasting water when they take trays, they also waste large amounts of food. Especially with the buffet style set-up students have at StFX, the classic saying “your eyes are bigger than your stomach” becomes true.
Many trays that are half full are disposed of onto the magical conveyor belt that takes away all our leftovers.
It has been proven that students will take 25-35 per cent less food when they aren’t carrying trays. As a bonus, by taking less food, a student would be consuming less and limiting their portion sizes.
Which means they could potentially eat healthier, and who wouldn’t like that?
Additionally, with less food wasted the cafeteria costs could go down, which could lead to cheaper meal plans.
Overall, the benefits of reducing the use of a tray are enormous. The bad side? We may drop a plate or two stirring up some cheers from your peers. It happens to everyone, even people who use trays.
So let’s try out a no tray day. It’s a pretty simple way to go green and anyone can do it.