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LYCOMING COLLEGE 2015 SPRING MAGAZINE
T H E CO L L E G E
RECYCLING
HOTSPOT
It started with a few students
waiting for leftovers in the
cafeteria. Now, it’s become a
bona fide movement at Lycoming.
Food
recovery
central:
STUDENTS TRANSFORM LYCO INTO
FRN
In less than one year, the Lycoming Sustainability Committee
has gone from introducing the campus to the food-saving
methods of the Food Recovery Network (FRN) to making the
college a central part of the group’s efforts.
FRN brings together students at colleges and universities
across the country to help combat hunger and to limit food
waste by saving surplus food and donating it to people
in need. Lyco students learned about the project while
they attended the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource
Consortium (PERC) conference in October of 2013.
They took the initiative to contact an FRN representative
and within a few months, began transporting extra food from
Wertz Dining Hall to the American Rescue Workers on a
daily basis. They saved more than 500 pounds of food in the
first two weeks of the program, sometimes salvaging up to
93.5 pounds a day. Since then, the college has provided over
11,000 pounds of food to local agencies, helping to reduce the
quantity of food destined for the landfill by the same amount.
“Since we founded our chapter of the Food Recovery
Network, we have seen the awareness of sustainability and
social justice grow on campus,” said Lynette Dooley, a senior
biology major who was named “Campus Sustainability
Champion” at the 2014 PERC conference. “I am so
happy to be a part of it. All of the hard work and
sleepless nights in the beginning were worth
all of the involvement and excitement it
brings to campus.”
FRN was so impressed by the
students’ efforts and Lyco’s
commitment to the cause
that it decided to host its
Eastern Regional Summit
on the college’s campus in
September of 2014. The
summit brought together
Food Recovery leaders
from several East Coast
colleges and universities
to network, collaborate
and develop successful
strategies for repurposing
waste. Lycoming also was
featured on the front page
of the the PERC website,
celebrating the college as the
50th chapter to join the Food
Recovery Challenge.
•
Since we founded
our chapter of
the Food
Recovery
Network,
we have seen
the awareness
of sustainability
and social
justice grow
on campus.