Vivian Saavedra was visiting her niece’s farm in Washington state when she first saw tricycles making hard work more convenient and environmentally friendly.

The tricycles were fixed with baskets and used for short deliveries, replacing the use of carbon-emitting vehicles. After Saavedra, a Dining Services program management specialist, noticed Dining Services was pushing to make its operations more sustainable, she proposed using three-wheeled bikes to carry out small deliveries across the campus.

For the first time this semester, Dining Services employees, Dining Service sustainability coordinator Allison Lilly and student rooftop garden supervisor Diana Daisy are using three tricycles on loan from the Eppley Recreation Center — the center used them in alcohol awareness events to simulate drunk driving — to deliver produce and herbs from the university’s two rooftop gardens to the gardens’ student and staff volunteers.

Greg Thompson, the assistant director of Dining Services Facilities, Maintenance and the Green Dining Program, said although the idea “started as a joke,” it has been a positive addition to the department.

“It’s win-win and it doesn’t cost you anything, really,” he said.

The tricycles are also being used to transport equipment and supplies, such as tools for the gardens, and could eventually replace the use of carbon-emitting vehicles in small catering deliveries, Thompson said.

In addition, Facilities Management is now using a tricycle to service fire extinguishers all over the 12-acre Severn Building across from Route 1, Thompson said.

Thompson said he’s still working to get employees on board, though. Only two of the 10 Dining Services technicians who made a delivery with the bikes said they would opt to try them again.

However, after witnessing the tricycles in action, Thompson said he expects they will catch on.

“It was a hoot,” Thompson said. “Everybody who’s seen it is laughing and it just gives everybody a good time.”

Saavedra said the benefits of getting some exercise and being environmentally friendly at work outweigh the awkwardness of trying a new mode of transportation.

“The only emissions are my own, and I’m breathing anyway,” she said.

Saavedra added that in addition to being sturdier than bicycles for the purpose of making deliveries, the tricycles brighten her day.

“I’m waiting for a basket with those little plastic flowers or maybe a clown car horn,” she said. “And I’ll get some cards and put them in the spokes.”

In addition to the green bikes, Dining Services has built on its sustainable initiatives from recent years. For example, officials recently purchased two more electric carts and plan to buy two vans that run on liquid petroleum, a gas that burns cleaner than other traditional motor oils.

The Green Dining Program, which has been composting since 2005, is now focusing on gathering and responding to student concerns. Soon, Thompson said, he hopes to provide reusable plates to students during late night.

Several students said they would take up the opportunity to use the dine-in plates.

“At least have the option of eating here with trays,” economics and government and politics major Rachel Richardson said. “It would make it slightly cheaper.”

Thompson said although last semester’s three-week-long pilot of offering plates at late night was successful, instituting the change permanently would be time-consuming and expensive.

“It’s like changing day to night,” said Thompson.

gray@umdbk.com