Tenley Café has yet to lose its trays as AU attempts to make itself a more sustainable school.
The system at Tenley Café will not work with plates only, according to Chris Moody, the executive director of Housing and Dining.
“The conveyer belt system at the Tenley Café is very different than the one in the Terrace Dining Room,” Moody said. “The existing conveyer belt system at Tenley Café still requires the use of trays, but the desire is to continue to move towards a tray-less environment once the necessary changes can be made.”
The university hopes to replace the conveyer belt in Tenley Café over the summer, so it will be in place for the beginning of the next school year, according to JoDe Nowland, director of Auxiliary Services. The current conveyer belt relies on the use of trays to dispose of unclean dishes and silverware. To replace it, the university must first design a new conveyer belt that will fit Tenley Café’s needs.
“Since many students at Tenley are from other countries, having trays at the Tenley dining room sends the wrong message about the United States: wastefulness,” said Drew Veysey, president of EcoSense.
Some students said they are disgruntled Tenley is able to keep its trays for the remainder of the year.
“We suffer to be green while one campus has trays,” said Will Sanders, a freshman in the School of International Service.
Steve Smith, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, agrees with Sander’s assessment.
“It’s unfair that one campus has trays,” he said. “They need a uniform policy one way or the other.”
AU will still advertise as a tray-less school despite the fact that Tenley Café has trays, Nowland said.
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