rutgers-cage-free-eggs-dining-hall-students.JPG

Jessica Nuzzo, 18, left and Michelle Wilderotter, 18, are served eggs during student orientation at the Livingston Dining Commons at Rutgers University in Piscataway in this file photo. Rutgers is considering eliminating trays in its dining halls.

(Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger)



NEW BRUNSWICK — Rutgers University students will need to practice carrying their plates, drinks and silverware in the campus dining hall this spring.

The university's Neilson Dining Hall on the Cook campus in New Brunswick is experimenting with eliminating food trays, reports the Daily Targum, the campus newspaper. The program began this week as a pilot test for doing away with trays across the university.

Eliminating trays would save Rutgers money by reducing cleaning and water costs, campus officials said. Trays may also prompt students to take additional food that eventually gets thrown away.

“Students have a tendency to load up,” Chris Hazell, a supervisor for Neilson Dining Hall, told the Targum. “It was astronomical the amount of food being wasted.”

The University of San Diego, the University of Kansas and New York University are among the growing number of campuses that have eliminated trays.

RELATED COVERAGE

• Rutgers-Camden names law school dean Phoebe Haddon as new chancellor

• Rutgers requires companies using its logo to help eliminate sweatshops in Bangladesh

FOLLOW THE STAR-LEDGER: TWITTER • FACEBOOK • GOOGLE+