While serving breakfast and lunch during my first few days at the Hudson Guild Senior Center, I noticed that for each meal served, a plastic knife, fork, and spoon was provided, regardless of what was being served, and I also noticed that not every utensil was used. Later in my first week, I observed as my preceptor, Miryam, placed an online order for the senior centers food and supplies for the coming week, and at the end she commented that the total amount was slightly over budget. I suggested that a potential way to make room in the budget would be to replace the disposal utensils with reusable ones. As it turned out, the facility already had metal utensils on site, and so using those in place of the plastic ones would not even cost them anything.

I offered to conduct a tray waste audit prior to implementing this change in order to show its benefits and Miryam agreed. Before moving forward with it, I spoke with the head chef, Selena, and the rest of the kitchen staff to determine if it would be too time consuming or too much of a burden for them to have to also clean utensils at the end of the day. They all felt that it would not add too much time to their clean up and so I began collecting relevant data.

The first step I took was calculating approximately how much money was being spent on utensils. To begin, I broke it down by individual person. Per person, per meal, utensils cost $0.03. The center serves approximately 100 meals total daily (breakfast and lunch), so the daily cost of utensils is approximately $3. There are approximately 260 working days in a year, so the yearly cost for utensils is approximately $780. This is without taking into account the extra utensils being provided when one is dropped on the floor or breaks, those provided with staff and guest meals, those days where more than 100 meals are served, or any other circumstances that would cause more utensils to be distributed. Which means the total amount spent on utensils is actually even higher. To confirm this, I looked at the invoices for the previous 3 months and found that $382.69 had been spent on utensils. Assuming the amount used is relatively consistent throughout the year, then the total spent is approximately $1,530.76. I conducted the audit the following Monday (1/22/18) and Tuesday (1/23/18) at breakfast and lunch. In order to keep an accurate tally of the utensils given out, and the ones thrown away un-used, I moved the garbage next to the end of the serving line. I tallied the utensils given out, and the ones that went into the garbage without being used. To make sure I was accurately recording what was not being used, I asked each person if there were any utensils they hadn’t used when they came to throw out their garbage. At the end of the two days, a total of 209 spoons, 205 knives, and 209 forks were provided, and 31 spoons, 28 knives, and 12 forks went un-used. Assuming that this amount is relatively consistent, over $100 is spent on just the un-used utensils each year.  While the savings would not be astronomical if metal utensils were used instead, it is a decent amount of money to be putting towards utensils, and every little bit helps when you’re working on a tight budget.

Based on the above information, Miryam agreed to have the facility stop ordering plastic utensils and begin using metal utensils the following Monday (1/29/18). I suggested to continue using the plastic ones until they ran out of the ones they already had, but after discussing it with Selena and Miryam, we came to the conclusion that they should save any leftover ones in case they needed them for something in the future. For example, some of the seniors bring snacks with them for the events that are hosted at the center after lunch, and it would be easier to give them a plastic utensil once everything is cleaned and closed for the day. They will determine whether or not to order more utensils for a situation such as that one once they run out.

Miryam and Selena did have some concerns moving forward. Primarily, they were worried that some people might try to take the utensils home and eventually they would need to purchase new ones. Additionally, they were concerned that some of the utensils might get thrown out accidentally. To address these issues, I suggested we keep the garbage at the end of the tray line instead of moving it back against the wall in the middle of the room, and that way we could observe as they threw out their garbage and placed their trays and utensils on the table next to it. We did this the first day, and at breakfast I noticed that they were stacking their trays on top of each trays utensils, and eventually the trays would have fallen over. To address this at lunch, I placed a bucket on the table for them to place their utensils in, which solved the problem we had at breakfast. People kept going to throw their garbage out in the original spot and so I made an announcement about the new system throughout both meals. I also stood by the garbage instead of serving at lunch to make sure that everyone knew where each item should be placed (garbage in the trash, tray on the table next to it, and utensils in the bucket). By the end of the first week, the new system went on without any issues. Cleaning the utensils only added about 10 minutes to the entire cleaning process at the end of the day, and once we began putting soap and water in the bucket for the utensils to soak in, clean up at the end of the day was even quicker.

Overall, the transition was a success and we achieved both of our goals – reduce spending and waste. If I had had the time, I would have done this over several weeks and on non-consecutive days in order to get a better and more accurate picture about use, waste, and overall costs. The next steps for a Continuous Improvement Plan in this area would be to switch to reusable plates and bowls to further reduce spending and waste.

Below is the data I collected during the tray waste audit:

CRDN 1.1 Select indicators of program quality and/or customer service and measure achievement of objectives. CRDN 1.2 Apply evidence-based guidelines, systematic reviews and scientific literature. CRDN 1.3 Justify programs, products, services and care using appropriate evidence or data. CRDN 1.5 Conduct projects using appropriate research methods, ethical procedures and data analysis. CRDN 1.6 Incorporate critical-thinking skills in overall practice. CRDN 2.2 Demonstrate professional writing skills in preparing professional communications. CRDN 2.3 Demonstrate active participation, teamwork and contributions in group settings. CRDN 2.7 Apply leadership skills to achieve desired outcomes.CRDN 2.8 Demonstrate negotiation skills. CRDN 3.3 Demonstrate effective communications skills for clinical and customer services in a variety of formats and settings. CRDN 3.7 Develop and deliver products, programs or services that promote consumer health, wellness and lifestyle management. CRDN 3.9 Coordinate procurement, production, distribution and service of goods and services, demonstrating and promoting responsible use of resources. CRDN 4.3 Conduct clinical and customer service quality management activities. CRDN 4.5 Analyze quality, financial and productivity data for use in planning. CRDN 4.6 Propose and use procedures as appropriate to the practice setting to promote sustainability, reduce waste and protect the environment. CRDN 4.7 Conduct feasibility studies for products, programs or services with consideration of costs and benefits. CRDN 4.8 Develop a plan to provide or develop a product, program or service that includes a budget, staffing needs, equipment and supplies.