Could your school try serving meals without trays?

Class teacher Minna Vahtola watches the children’s news show Lasten uutiset every Friday with 2nd-graders, after which the whole class discusses the topics. In late January, there was a story in the news about Oulunkylä Primary School’s restaurant, which no longer uses trays. Minna thought the idea sounded good.

Minna immediately went to talk to service manager Marjo Nylund. Marjo was in favour of the experiment, so the idea was passed on to the school’s sustainable development team. Principal Leila Tuominen praises the school’s cooperation with the kitchen as completely seamless. They come up with a lot of ideas together and suggest new things to each other whenever they come to mind. Soon the pilot was underway.

The experiment was motivated by environmental friendliness and sustainability: When there are no trays to be washed, detergents, water and electricity are saved. Since the start of the experiment, the kitchen has been washing 40 fewer crates of dishes per day, giving the machines some time to rest. The pilot’s biggest surprise was the improvement in comfort: when the dishwashers are not on all the time, it is much quieter in the restaurant. The peaceful environment makes it easier to discuss and give advice to the pupils.

Service manager Marjo has noticed a clear difference in kitchen work after the change. There are two employees in the school kitchen, one of whom used to be washing dishes all the time. Now they have time to meet and help the pupils, and to do cleaning other than washing the dishes. If one of the employees is absent, one person can take care of all the dishes, and the kitchen does not have to resort to disposable tableware. This increases environmental friendliness, and so does the reduction in plastic waste in the long term, as the school does not need to buy new trays.

The change has been well received by the pupils, and no one has given negative feedback to the kitchen. Fourth-grader Miro Rautio says that the lack of trays felt a bit strange at first, but it is good that it saves the environment. Miro has already developed his own routine for taking the dishes to his seat.

Principal Leila first wondered how the smallest preschoolers would manage to carry the dishes. It turned out that using a tray was much more difficult! Balancing a tray can be challenging, as it can easily tip over. It is easier to hold a plate in your hand. During the experiment, no plates or glasses ended up on the floor. In fact, the preschoolers were the first to announce that they did not want the trays back. Leila says that even at home, children carry plates and not trays.

Naturally, the new practice involved some initial difficulties and things to think about. Marjo first placed the cutlery at the beginning of the serving line, from where they were soon moved to the end. The cleaning of crumbs is currently under consideration, and two different solutions have been suggested. The pupils at Iivisniemi are used to cleaning their own tables after eating, and new approaches could be tried in connection with this. Leila and Marjo believe that everything will get even better with the fine-tuning of small things like placement and cleaning the crumbs.

Trays have permanently disappeared from Iivisniemi. Just a week and a half after beginning the experiment, the school decided to turn meals without trays into a permanent practice.

Could your school participate in a pilot like this?