National recycling competion challenges students
University will participate in Recyclemania 2008 for the third consecutive year, hoping for another award winning run
By: Kate Calabro / Staff Writer
Posted: 1/24/08
Next time you finish a refreshing bottle of soda, think twice before
tossing that plastic bottle into the garbage can. Beginning Jan. 27,
the University will participate for a third-consecutive year in
Recyclemania 2008, a 10-week national competition between more than 285
colleges and universities to see which campus has the best recycling
rates.
Schools will compete to see which institution can collect the largest
amount of recyclables and the least amount of trash per capita, the
largest amount of total recyclables and the highest recycling rate.
Each week, the University's facilities department will collect, tally
and report the information about the amount of recyclables collected.
"[Recyclemania] is just one way to prove to folks across the nation
that Rutgers understands sustainability and understands our role in
helping the environment," said Magda Comeau, a senior compliance
coordinator at the University. "Recycling is an easy way to make a big
impact."
As a part of Recyclemania, which began in 2001, students must make an
effort to minimize waste and boost the recycling rate at the
University.
New Jersey Public Interest and Research Group Student Chapters board
chair, Sarah Clader, a Rutgers College senior, said events like
Recyclemania help encourage students to become energy efficient.
"Since we are still young, we are going to have to eventually deal with
all the damage we are doing to the earth, and doing such simple things
as recycling can help for the future," Clader said.
The process is really simple, Comeau said. Students are expected to recycle.
"For instance, if you have a bottle of soda, rather than just trash it,
wait to find a recycling can," she said. "That's all you have to do."
Dianne Gravatt, director of Environmental Service and Grounds for
Facilities Maintenance Services, said more than 65 percent of waste at
the University are recyclables, and Recyclemania is a way to make sure
those recyclables are being disposed of correctly.
It's important to be concerned about what happens to our waste and how
it impacts the environment. It's a small piece of a big picture, Comeau
said.
"This is just one way to prove to folks across the nation that Rutgers
understands sustainability and understands our role in helping the
environment," Comeau said. "Recycling is an easy way to make a big
impact."
After the University's first year of involvement in the competition, a discovery about residence hall recycling was made.
"We found that in the dorms, students were not recycling the way they
should be," Gravatt said. "The students weren't sorting their waste,
[and] 20 percent of the waste stream was recyclables. The students
weren't sorting their waste."
"With the help of the housing facilities, student awareness and
involvement, there was a 5 percent increase in recyclables last year,"
Gravatt said.
Now recycling in residence halls has become easier with the placement
of individual waste receptacles marked "Trash, Paper, and Bottles and
Cans," located in each building and room.
"The [resident assistants] clearly explained the purpose of the three
different trash cans in the beginning of the year," said Justin
Callahan, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student. "Most
people are respectful of it and put everything where it should be."
Many students also find that the separate cans have made recycling an easier task.
"It's pretty effective because I never recycled before, but now that I
have the three separate cans, it makes it a lot easier to do so,"
Callahan said.
This is the third year that the University is involved in Recyclemania.
The combined efforts of students and faculty led to the success in last
year's competition.
"We have the support of so many people in so many different
departments," Comeau said. "It's exciting to see such support across
the board."
In last year's competition, the University won the Gorilla Prize, an
award for the highest gross tonnage of recyclables, and with 2.7
million pounds, the University placed first in the amount of food
service organics recycled per person.
The University was also one of the top five winners in the majority of the competition's categories.
"Last year, we blew folks away and I know we're going to do it again," Comeau said.
The Grand Champion prize goes to the campus that has the greatest
achievement in overall source reduction and recycling. Last year, the
University placed second in this category to California State
University-San Marcos, but many people are optimistic about this year's
competition.
"Cal State has held the first place title for a few years and this
year, we want to win it," Comeau said. "We also want to keep first
place in the Gorilla Prize and the Food Service Organics award. First
place in all categories would be our super-goal."
Douglass College senior Idamar Eeydy said she believes the University
has been doing much better than previous years in getting students to
recycle.
Unlike last year's successful finish, in the 2006 competition, the University was placed in 35th, she said.
"Before [the University] did really badly in Recyclemania, and it was
almost to the point of it being a disgrace," Eeydy said. "But last
year, we stepped up our game and hopefully will do just as good this
year and maybe get first place this time."
There will be a kickoff event hosted by the Student Environmental
Association at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24 in the G.H. Cook room of the
Cook Campus Center. The competition begins Jan. 27 and will end April
5. Each week, students can access information about the University's
progress in the competition by visiting www.facilities.rutgers.edu and
following the link to Recyclemania information.
- M. Aasin Pena
contributed to this article
© Copyright 2008 The Daily Targum
