'Trayless Tuesdays' has insignificant effects
William Frazier
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Ed-Op
Admittedly, the Drexel dining hall will never run such a thing as a "Forkless Friday" or a "Spoonless Sunday" - they'd quickly lose many customers. This begs the question, why should the Dining hall single out trays? As I learned from a few friends when I posted a more primitive version of this article on Facebook and MySpace, students simply tolerate losing their trays whether they care for the change or not.
My old classmate from high school, Liane, who studies at Penn, informed me that Penn lost its trays completely this school year, and said, "It was weird at first, now everyone is used to it." Another friend of mine, Danielle, who attends Lycoming College, wrote, "My school has gone completely 'trayless'. ... But no matter what argument I put forward to the student/food services committee, they say it helps the environment."
Let's revisit Hope's claim for a moment: Trayless Tuesdays aims to aid the planet and not to save money.
Hope makes good on supporting her statement and even interviews Andrew Manfredo, Drexel Dining marketing manager, who said, "While Drexel Dining Services may appear to be masquerading Trayless as a green initiative in an effort to pocket the change, savings are not going to line the pockets of the business … it is going into the business to boost customer satisfaction."
Hope completely misses the underlying truth in this statement - what does "going into the business to boost customer satisfaction" mean? Are food and new dishes, which require energy to manufacture, being purchased? Is new, better equipment, which requires energy to build and energy to operate being bought? Are employees getting pay raises, which they will undoubtedly spend on goods and services that consume energy, in hopes that they feel more inclined to do a better job?
Isn't this what businesses do with all of the money that they save?
Drexel Dining Services can do a myriad of things with the money it saves by not washing trays every Tuesday of April. Barring Drexel Dining Services deciding to bury it, however, they definitely will not save as much energy as they blazon on the chart at the front of the Handschumacher.
My old classmate from high school, Liane, who studies at Penn, informed me that Penn lost its trays completely this school year, and said, "It was weird at first, now everyone is used to it." Another friend of mine, Danielle, who attends Lycoming College, wrote, "My school has gone completely 'trayless'. ... But no matter what argument I put forward to the student/food services committee, they say it helps the environment."
Let's revisit Hope's claim for a moment: Trayless Tuesdays aims to aid the planet and not to save money.
Hope makes good on supporting her statement and even interviews Andrew Manfredo, Drexel Dining marketing manager, who said, "While Drexel Dining Services may appear to be masquerading Trayless as a green initiative in an effort to pocket the change, savings are not going to line the pockets of the business … it is going into the business to boost customer satisfaction."
Hope completely misses the underlying truth in this statement - what does "going into the business to boost customer satisfaction" mean? Are food and new dishes, which require energy to manufacture, being purchased? Is new, better equipment, which requires energy to build and energy to operate being bought? Are employees getting pay raises, which they will undoubtedly spend on goods and services that consume energy, in hopes that they feel more inclined to do a better job?
Isn't this what businesses do with all of the money that they save?
Drexel Dining Services can do a myriad of things with the money it saves by not washing trays every Tuesday of April. Barring Drexel Dining Services deciding to bury it, however, they definitely will not save as much energy as they blazon on the chart at the front of the Handschumacher.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Ed
posted 5/01/09 @ 10:50 AM EST
I completely agree. Quick suggestion, don't use the phrase 'begs the question' when you want to ask or raise a question. It makes somewhat educated people cringe. (Continued…)
Jim
posted 5/02/09 @ 12:40 AM EST
I would only like to add and point out the number of comment cards filled out in rebellion of trayless tuesdays. Didn't that waste a lot of paper? I think it's a great idea to conserve food, water, etc, blah blah blah. (Continued…)
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