Following the lead of other environmentally conscious projects, such as EcoCar, Mississippi State’s recycling efforts have graduated to the national arena with the university’s inclusion in a national recycling competition.
MSU is participating in RecycleMania, a competition in which the 512 participating schools are able to compare their recycling efforts with those of other schools around the country.
The major advantage of the university’s involvement in RecycleMania is the ability to benchmark the recycling efforts of the Residence Hall Association, Green Starkville and MSU Dining Services, which are the managing partners of the competition.
In a span of the eight weeks since the competition began, more than 4,700 pounds of recyclable materials have been collected.
Spearheading the RHA’s involvement is the Recycling and Community Service Committee, which consists of at least one resident advisor per hall and is headed by Hurst Hall Residence Director Jason Bertrand.
Bertrand said RHA members placed recycling bins in each residence hall as well as other locations on campus that are emptied twice a week to be weighed for the competition.
RecycleMania ends on April 10, but Bertrand said the recycling bins will remain in the halls until the end of the semester and will be brought back next fall. He said he hopes for students to continue recycling even after moving off campus.
“They can now be advocates of the advantages that recycling has,” Bertrand said. “They probably have to take their trash out much less because of this too.”
Siobhan Gibbons, a sophomore and member of the Recycling and Community Service Committee, said she is very supportive of the recycling campaign.
“Being from California, I am overall dissatisfied with the recycling efforts in Mississippi,” Gibbons said. “I really hope to see a change, and it [RecycleMania] is helping.”
Nisreen Cain, Green Starkville founder, said educating people is most important to the organization.
“What we have realized is that educating and bringing awareness about recycling in the community is the most important step in reaching our goals,” Cain said. “Through promoting and supporting many of the scattered recycling efforts, as well as having recycling drives to show how easy it is to recycle, we have successfully been able to increase the number of people recycling in the community.”
A recent glass recycling drive spearheaded by the organization brought in more than two tons of glass.
Cain said Green Starkville was founded in May 2008 with a mission to promote a culture of green living in Starkville and nearby areas.
“As for our main recycling project in the community, our goal is to increase the number of people who recycle, get the city to expand the recycling location so that they would accept plastics and other recyclables and to have curbside recycling,” Cain said.
The Starkville Board of Aldermen recently approved a plan for curbside recycling.
Green Starkville is also supporting the MSU Recycling Club with its Adopt-A-Bin Campaign that will launch April 22 during the Earth Day celebration on campus.
Students will also be able to continue their recycling efforts during the summer months as they will be able to participate in the Keep America Beautiful program, which aims to keep cities environmentally friendly.