Tyler Rak

Editor in Chief

The disappearance of Lowry to-go boxes has reached a new nadir this week. Campus Dining estimates that they have fewer than 100 of the green boxes left.

“It’s less than 100. Way less,” Marjorie Shamp, director of campus dining, said. “There may be 500 of them out on campus somewhere, but they’re not here.”

The green box dilemma has been brewing for most of the academic year; well over 3000 boxes have gone missing since August. With an estimated 200 boxes used each day and usage increasing at the end of each semester, Shamp warned that students may begin to feel the strain if boxes remain missing.

“Some days we literally run out [of boxes] in the middle of the meal,” Shamp said. “There’s … 25 back there going with the dish machine and nothing ready to go.”

Shamp had hoped that recent marketing campaigns highlighting the need to return boxes would encourage students to think twice before throwing out boxes. However, its effects have not been felt by Campus Dining. The custodial staff continue to find to-go boxes across campus in trash cans, residence halls, study rooms and even in bathrooms, with little explanation as to why students have not returned them to campus dining.

With many missing boxes likely ending up in the trash, Shamp worries about the sustainability of this program moving forward. If all of the missing boxes have been thrown away, the College has contributed over 1000 pounds of plastic waste according to Campus Dining’s estimates. Plus, with each box costing several dollars and the recent scrutiny offices have faced as a result of the College’s budget deficit, Shamp has decided not to purchase more boxes for the remainder of the academic year.

“They’re very expensive, and the idea is that it’s a sustainable practice to use them,” Shamp said. “When they don’t get returned or they get thrown away, it just kind of takes the program … off the rails.”

The loss of these boxes has led Shamp to propose an alternative to this program for the next academic year. Through her work with Brain Webb, director of sustainability, she recommended a system that holds students accountable to cut down on waste.

The proposed plan will require students to check boxes out when they pick up a meal and then scan them in when they return the box. If a student fails to return a box but still wants another, they will be asked to purchase a new box.

“There’s going to have to be some kind of pain point,” Shamp said. Students will be required “to purchase the [new] box with cash or a debit or credit card.” This financial incentive is meant to encourage students to retain their previously obtained boxes and will allow Campus Dining to focus their budget on providing better dining experiences for campus.

“[The program] is not going away,” Shamp said. “We’re going to have it, but we just have to add some accountability so that it works the way it’s supposed to.”