STORRS, Conn. -- Students at the University of Connecticut will test a program to reduce the amount of discarded food.

UConn sophomore Matt Oricchio, of Wolcott, said many of the students at the Whitney Dining Hall fill their trays.

"I don't think they think about waste that much," he said. "I think it's just, 'I want this, I want this,' put it on their tray."

The extra food makes for some heavy garbage cans, which sparked some ideas at the university.

Would the students take as much food if they didn't have a tray? To find out, the campus will start a three-week process to measure waste, educate students and take away the trays.

"We're going to see if it does modify behavior, and we'll consider maybe expanding the program," said Rebecca Gorin, of UConn Dining Services.

Food service officials plan to monitor everything very closely during the three-week process, including weighing all the contents of garbage cans and monitoring the number of dishes that go through the dishwasher.

"It might just be tray-less Thursday, or one day a week, or one day a month to raise awareness for that one day," Gorin said.

Some students said they think it just might help them cut back.

"Because I'll be like, 'Well, I can't fit that much.' So, I'll choose more wisely," Oricchio said.