RecycleMania hits MU

Sustain Mizzou and Campus Facilities are teaming up to promote recycling.

By Amanda Wysocki

Published Feb. 12, 2009

Sustain Mizzou wants to go to great lengths to promote awareness of recycling on campus this semester, even if it means climbing a "recycle mountain."

MU is participating in RecycleMania, an event sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency in order to raise awareness about waste reduction. The event runs for 10 weeks, starting Jan. 18 and ending March 28. This is the fourth year MU has taken part.

Students can participate by depositing their recyclables in the bins located on campus.

Sustain Mizzou President Patrick Margherio said. In the residence halls, there are recycling bins on almost every floor and large bins in the main lobbies.

There will be flyers in the halls and a Facebook site is being created to promote the event, Sustain Mizzou member Mike Madden said.

Margherio said the main goal for this year is to raise awareness about the event and recycling in general.

MU is 21st in a national competition between universities and colleges to see who can recycle the most.

"We want to show students we can be really good at recycling on campus," Margherio said.

Last year, MU only participated in the category targeted at recycling cardboard, said Steve Burdic, Solid Waste and Recycling coordinator.

"In previous years, we entered more of the competitions, but we were kind of down in the middle of the rankings," Burdic said. "I wanted to do something I thought we would do better at."

This year, though, MU is participating in the overall competition rather than specific categories.

"Larger schools generally have a harder time competing with smaller schools except in the category about how much was collected," Burdic said. "We're doing pretty good right now. I would like to be able to finish in the top 10."

Madden's goal is to finish in the top 12 and use this year as a trial run for the next competition.

"Once we find out all the results and get the rankings in, we're going to really nail it hard next year," Madden said. "I'd really like to go for the gold next year and get into the top three or maybe first place."

Margherio hopes that students will participate in recycling for the competition now and adopt the habit in the future.

"It's really necessary to promote recycling on campus," Margherio said. "We generate so much waste on campus every day. It is also important in the students' personal lives to build this culture on campus so it becomes subconscious to recycle later in life."

Burdic said taking part in the competition could also foster school spirit.

"School pride is involved and it is something that is a bread and butter issue for the university. When we do a good job with recycling, we save money and help save the environment," Burdic said. "Students get to support their school in a national competition that gets quite a bit of publicity."

Madden wants to use this competition as a way to further MU's environmental efforts.

"MU needs to progress in terms of sustainability," Madden said. "Right now, we are kind of behind. It's just one thing we really need to put pressure on. Recycling is definitely something we all should learn and take part in."

In March, Sustain Mizzou will sponsor "recycle mountain," Margherio said. The event will be an all-day affair.

"We'll put bales of recyclables we get from the city on Lowry Mall and talk about recycling all day," Margherio said.