Students were questioning the usage of disposable plates, bowls, cups, and sliverware at Boozel Dining Hall on Monday.
“I was a little confused when I went to Boozel for lunch on Monday,” Brooke Griffin, freshman Emerging Technology and Multimedia major said. “I wanted to know why Boozel was not using the usual cups and plates. At first, I thought maybe they were getting new plates.”
“Disposable china was used due to mechanical issues recently with the dishwasher at Boozel Dining Hall,” Joe Balaban, Resident Director of AVI Fresh Dining Services, said. “A sensor in the dishwasher had failed causing the machine not to work.”
Balaban said that Boozel was still able to use the red baskets due to a preplanned surplus of the baskets in the event of a dishwasher problem. According to Balaban, Boozel has over 8,000 baskets to accommodate approximately four days-worth, if needed, and with the paper liners used in the baskets, they do not need to be washed right away.
Balaban said that AVI made the decision to use all the disposable dinnerware and this did not majorly affect the dining hall, as operations continued as normal. However, Balaban said that the amount of garbage Boozel produced on Monday was doubled.
Boozel conserves energy in many ways on a typical basis, so the dishwasher malfunction on Monday did not really affect Boozel’s energy usage for the week, Balaban said. Balaban said that all food waste that Boozel produces is composted with the McKoskey center. Balaban also added that all of the hood systems are set to timers, which allow for the reduction of electricity usage.
“Additionally, being a tray-less facility reduces the usage of electricity to the dishwashing area, as well as the dishwashing machine is not continuously utilized and is able to be shut down during non-peak periods of service,” Balaban said.
Balaban emphasized that being a tray-less facility highly reduces not only the amount of electricity used at Boozel, but the amount of water as well. According to Balaban, Boozel saves over 3,500 gallons of water per week by being tray-less. Also, being tray-less helps Boozel chemically, Balaban said.
The floor scrubbers help Boozel conserve water too, Balaban said. According to Balaban, the floor scrubbers recycle water, as opposed to using a mop that does not.
