{"id":11932,"date":"2025-05-20T12:06:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T16:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/sustainability\/?p=11932"},"modified":"2025-05-20T15:51:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T19:51:18","slug":"eyeglasses-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/sustainability\/eyeglasses-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Eyeglasses collection event achieves unprecedented success"},"content":{"rendered":"

It can be easy to take strong eyesight for granted, but it is estimated that 64% of the global population having a distance vision impairment<\/a> are living with poor vision because they do not have access to corrective eyewear.<\/p>\n

To combat this issue, the Sustainability Office holds an annual program each spring to collect used eyeglasses. In addition to helping bring better vision to those in need, the eyeglasses collection program<\/a> aims to reduce waste that would otherwise end up in the landfill. In the spirit of the Campus Race to Zero Waste<\/a> competition, where universities across America compete to divert the most waste, the eyeglasses collection program runs in parallel each March and includes a departmental competition.<\/p>\n

Since its inception in 2014, the program has been run through a valued partnership with the Lions Eye Bank of the Northeast<\/a>. Lions Eye Bank accepts the collected donations and sends them to The Lions Club International<\/a>, where they are cleaned and packaged for those in need around the world.<\/p>\n

Individuals across the University community donated eyeglasses through drop-offs to the collection box in the Flaum Eye Institute or through the mail-in program. In addition, 39 departments participated in a departmental competition to see who could collect the most glasses and create the most eye-catching collection box.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s results were staggering:<\/p>\n