This semester, Boston University students are finding new ways to balance their meals — literally. Dining halls will no longer serve meals on trays in an effort to cut down on water use in the process of washing them. Though it may be a hassle to some, students should all agree that going trayless is another way to easily conserve resources and money.

When the very same program was implemented last Earth Day, most students celebrated the event and had seemingly little problem with it. Some dining halls even carried on their trayless ways through the end of the year. But now that the tray-free decree is permanent policy, some are beginning to show resistance.

It’s disheartening how quickly attitudes can change when it comes to environmental issues on campus. Let’s not forget that, as a college campus, we are afforded a great amount of latitude to create change on a large scale. Students ought not resist green changes when ones are offered.

That isn’t to say trayless meals are without drawbacks. Carrying a hot plate across a crowded dining room may inevitably lead to some potentially painful spills. And more trips to the food counters for plates and drinks will most likely result in increased foot traffic, thereby possibly increasing the chance of spill-causing collision.

The biggest obstacle to adjustment, however, seems to lie in students’ attitudes about the change. In reality, the lack of trays is an extremely minor inconvenience in the day-to-day of most students. It’s a problem of attitude, not of convenience.

Hopefully, the adjustment to a tray-free meal will be a quick one. Aside from the much-touted water savings, students will likely take less food on each trip to the counter, resulting in less food waste. Less food waste leads to less energy used in food preparation, and fewer ingredients shipped across the country using trucks running on fossil fuels. It’s a classic case of give-a-little, get-a-lot.