Highlights

Campus News

Wildcat Weekly Minute for Nov. 17, 2011

A look at what's happening on campus this week.

Faith

Cleansed through the Cross

Dr. Quarles speaks on the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice at weekly chapel

Sports

LC hoops teams wrap up homestand with pair of wins

Off to Ozarks, UT-Dallas next

Organizations

LC media student give to Toys for Tots

More than 100 toys will help local charity

Campus Life

February is Heart Health Awareness Month

Stay healthy and 'God Red'

Culture

All the Shakespeare you could laugh at… and more!

tlc's adaptation of 'Shakespeare Abridged' pulls out all the stops

Special Coverage

LC brings another successful ‘Follow the Star’

'Christmas on the Hill' and 'Gala' add to festive weekend

“Tray, Tray” Bien

by Al Quartemont

Hattie B. ditching trays to go green

For LC students who are used to stacking their trays full of food, they'll no longer have that option on Tuesday and Thursday during this spring semester.

LC Dining Services, as part of the national effort to "go green," has eliminated the use of food trays from the Hattie B. Strother cafeteria. It is a move designed to reduce, at least in part, the campus impact on the environment.

"Eliminating trays at Louisiana College will reduce usage by approximately 29,000 gallons a year," said Scott Baker, Food Service Director. "Plus it reduces the amount of chemicals entering the waste stream."

In addition to helping to conserve water, the move away from trays could cut down on food waste. In a study by Aramark, the company that contracts with LC to provide dining services, the amount of food wasted by students who went "trayless" dropped from 1.8 ounces to 1.2 ounces per person - a drop of 25 to 30 percent.

The change took effect Jan. 12 and Baker said, for the most part, students have been receptive to the change.

"Today's college students have a better understanding of their role of environmental stewardship," Baker said. "Last semester Dr. Peggy Pack (Vice President for Student Development) and I had a conversation about going trayless. She thought it would be an inconvenience but was willing to try it on a personal level. During the fall, she went trayless and realized that while her perception was that it would be an inconvenience, reality was different than the perception."

Like it or not, students will need to adapt to the policy as Baker said the goal is for Hattie B. to be completely trayless by the start of the semester next fall.

Other green initiatives implemented by Dining Services during the 2009 - 2010 semesters have included new trash can liners and napkins. The new can liners use less petroleum products during the manufacturing process, and Baker said the new napkins are the greenest napkin available. The company that manufactures the napkins has been rated the second greenest company in the world.

The move to more environmentally-friendly practices and products is becoming a standard at colleges and universities across the country. Aramark estimates 50 to 60 percent of its 500 campus partners have gone trayless in the past year.

"So far the results have been very positive," Baker said. "One student commented that they had transferred from another college and they were surprised we still had trays in the Hattie B Wildcat Cafe."

A surprise that won't be around much longer.

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