Approximately 1.5 tons of recycled material went into building the benches in the Alfred Plaza, a joint project by Alfred University and Alfred State College students who share this small Southern Tier village.
The proof is in the pudding… or more precisely, in the fries, bagels, cereal, cheese, milk, soft drinks, juice and bottled water, the staples of college dining hall menus.
Prompted by its students, Alfred University and AVI Fresh, a division of AVI Foodsystems, Inc. AVI Fresh, its food service partner, opted to do away with dining hall trays at the beginning of the 2008 spring semester, hoping to cut down on food waste and, at the same time, perhaps save some money.
The results are in, and they confirm what Green Alfred, a student group that promotes sustainability, and University officials surmised they would see – a reduction in food and beverage waste, and a savings in cleaning chemicals if they did away with the trays, which foster an all-you-can-carry, rather than an all-you-can-eat mentality.