RecycleMania Includes 'Raiding' Recyclables
A recycling raid and a recycled art workshop serve as part of this year’s activities to promote RecycleMania at the university.
EcoAction will hold the two events -- the raid on Feb. 17 and art workshop on Feb. 20 -- to encourage campus sustainability through recycling.
“During a recycling raid we go into main academic buildings and take recyclable materials out of the trash,” said Claire Austin (SFS’12) of EcoAction, a student-run environmental group.
Austin is leading this year’s RecycleMania efforts with group member Mara Schechter (C’11).
Once students have collected materials from the raid, they will be used during the workshop to make artwork. The workshop, presented by EcoAction and GU Art Aficionados, will be held Saturday from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on in Bull Dog Alley. The artwork will be displayed the following week in Red Square.
A Four-Year Tradition
This marks the fourth year Georgetown has participated in the 10-week competition that runs through March 27.
RecycleMania encourages recycling among colleges and universities and ranks schools based on the largest amount of recyclables per capita, total recyclables, waste minimization and the amount of targeted materials. To date, the university has recorded a total weight of 29,780 pounds of recyclables, compared to only 17,760 pounds for 2009.
“We’re tracking to do much better than last year,” said Bill Del Vecchio, university recycling manager.
Karen Frank, vice president of university facilities and student housing, said students have been doing a great job of monitoring operations and encouraging others to recycle.
The RecycleMania competition is a project of the College and University Recycling Council (CURC) and managed by Keep America Beautiful in coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWise program. The Coca Cola Company is also a sponsor.
Frank lauded student enthusiasm over campus sustainability, but stresses the importance of making it a university community effort.
This academic year, Georgetown equipped the campus with solar compactors containing recycling and trash bins.
The university also placed small recycling bins beside staff desks and installed recycling centers on every floor in academic and administrative buildings.
“Now we are trying to create more awareness and generate more participation by faculty and staff,” Frank said. “Hopefully our attempts to make recycling more convenient will help to increase participation.”
(February 16, 2010)
