While most students don’t think twice before sneaking a few pieces of silverware or a coffee mug out of the Marketplace at Usdan, to campus dining service provider Bon Appétit, those small acts have begun adding up to a gigantic cost.

“It gets frustrating, very frustrating,” said Bon Appétit Resident District Manager Michael Strumpf. “You can see by the numbers that we do have a problem. A month ago, we had an inventory of the black coffee mugs—we had 275 back then. Yesterday, we were down to 45.”

Between the start of the school year and February, Bon Appetit has spent $18,143 to replace missing dishware, averaging $3,023 per month. Although the figure does include a minimal amount of replacement due to breakage, Strumpf maintained that very few of the plastic dishes break, and that the sum is substantially spent on replacing missing inventory.

“It’s not super-fine china or anything, it’s everyday reusable stuff,” Strumpf said.”

Money for new dishes comes out of Bon Appétit’s operating budget, which allocates a certain amount of money every year toward acquiring and replacing dishes. This budget is directly granted by the University, which in turn receives money from students via the Residential Comprehensive Fee, which covers living and dining expenses.

“Unfortunately, theft drives prices up,” Strumpf said.

The Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) Dining Committee has frequently discussed the rising costs. Ben Firke ’12, head of the committee, echoed Strumpf’s sentiments.

“It’s not good for anyone,” Firke said. “More stealing has the potential to drive up the dining budget, which can drive up tuition every year. It’s also not sustainable to keep buying all this stuff.”

The dining committee has explored options for curtailing student theft in the dining areas, although Firke conceded that there are few, if any, viable preventive measures that can be enacted.

“Something that was discussed was a work study job that made sure nobody stole,” Firke said. “It got shot down. It was kind of patronizing, it was highly impractical from a labor standpoint, and would put the student in a difficult position. There’s a kind of inherent absurdity to a security guard position for the forks.”

An amnesty week at the end of every semester encourages students to return any stolen or “borrowed” dishware to designated collection sites in dorms and academic buildings.

While the program has had mild success, the returned dishware usually only accounts for a small fraction of all stolen materials.

“I would like to encourage amnesty week, but unfortunately we don’t get a lot back,” Strumpf said. He explained that this year provided greater losses and fewer returns than any year before, although the exact numbers were unavailable.

Anne Rosenthal ’10, a Dining Committee member and one of two Environmental Organizer’s Network (EON) coordinators, recently tried a novel approach to tackling the theft problem: posting whimsical reminders above Usdan’s plates reminding students not to steal.

“We thought kids didn’t make the connection between stealing, rising dining costs, and waste,” Rosenthal said. “We wanted something gentle, not accusatory. We hoped to bring up the environmental issue of so much wasted material.”

Of the several signs that were recently posted, only one was still visible near the silverware on Thursday evening. Decorated in bright colors, the reminder read, “Don’t you hate eating your soup with a knife? Don’t steal – Usdan runs out.”

“Students need to take it upon themselves not to steal anymore,” Firke said. “It’s a big problem which in the long run ends up costing everyone more money.”