Dishwasher Down!
Kehau Dining dishwasher’s weeks-long replacement process forces students to use disposable utensils
Copy Chief Elijah Kahula
Graphic Designer Naomi Lemieux
Earlier this semester, hungry UH Hilo Housing residents entering the Hale Kehau Dining Hall were greeted by an unfamiliar sight: paper plates and plastic utensils replacing washable plates and silverware. In front of the area connected to the dining hall’s kitchen, where students usually place their used dining ware in bins that would be brought to the kitchen and cleaned, three large, gray trash bins with labels reading “Food Waste Here,” “Plates & Bowls Here,” and “Cups & Utensils Here” sat instead.
Word quickly got out that Housing’s dishwasher would be out of order for at least the next month; Ke Kalahea got to the bottom of how this happened.
Kehau’s dishwasher, owned by UH Hilo Housing, suffered a death blow a year and a half ago and has been bleeding out ever since. According to UH Hilo Housing Director
Students voiced concern with the environmental impact the use of paper plates and plasticware would provide in the interim. “I don’t feel great about it,” says Nora Vos, an Environmental Studies major at UH Hilo and Housing resident. She says that because we live on an island, landfills on the island fill up quicker than other places. Vos wishes that the University had planned the repairs during the summer to avoid generating waste.
Per a contract with UH Hilo, dining food provider Sodexo provided the utensils and dishware while the dishwasher was down. They also provide compostable takeout containers and cups made of bioplastics, a popular option for students dining out. The black plastic forks, knives, and spoons provided by Sodexo do not appear recyclable, however.
Housing’s efforts to put the defunct machine out to pasture involved navigating a more complicated system than an outsider may initially fathom. Working with a unit of the University called Facilities Planning, Housing initiated the steps needed to acquire a new dishwasher back in 2018, but the lengthy process involved reaching out to industrial dishwasher vendors, acquiring permits, hiring contractors to install the dishwasher, and even training staff on the new system once installed (which Akau said was slated for Nov. 25).
The replacement process was longer than first expected by Housing, according to Akau, but she focused on the fact that it would be up and running by Thanksgiving dinner, an important meal for many Americans.
Editor’s Note: The environmental impact of disposable utensils and waste generated during the replacement period was not determined by Ke Kalahea before the printing of this issue. Therefore, this is a developing story.
The author of this article is employed as a Resident Assistant with UH Hilo's Housing.