Partnership of students & staff lead Recycemania 2013!

Thanks to all the volunteers and supporters joining us tonight at 7 at RAC in Black to kick off Recyclemania from trivia and prizes in the lobby, to a halftime game, to waste station attendents. Special thanks to ReSET, Sustainability Interns, and SEA!

UMBC KICKS OF RECYCLEMANIA

By Stefanie Rapp

Many students and staff may have seen the RecyleMania posters plastered throughout campus, but what exactly is RecyleMania?
RecyleMania is a competition held every spring at college campuses throughout the United States and Canada. The competition officially begins on February 3 and will continue for eight weeks.

As a member of RecyleMania’s competition division, UMBC will be ranked among other schools based on the weight of its trash and recycling each week. If enough recycling is collected, UMBC could be nationally recognized as an environmentally conscious campus.

In addition to committing to recycling, UMBC has also promised to work on using reusable plates and utensils in the dining hall, creating incentives for reusable cups, reusing envelopes, using compostable dinnerware and setting up compost bins.

In reference to this year’s campaign, Stephanie Bertran, a junior English literature major, said, “The competition part is interesting because from what I’ve seen, college students tend to like to compete and, [RecycleMania] helps create some school spirit.”

While adhering to all of these measures will better our campus’ chances of winning this competition and bolster its spirit, these choices will also have major positive impacts on the environment.

This begs a question: What can members of the UMBC community do to help? The answer is simple: reduce, reuse, recycle.

Students are encouraged to not only recycle, but also to reduce the amount of waste that they throw away. Taking just one napkin instead of a handful or recycling a coffee cup are just a few of the small ways that the UMBC community can reduce it’s impact and succeed in the competition.

However, efforts don’t have to stop there. Commuting students can try carpooling or taking one of UMBC’s buses to campus. Or to stay active while moving around campus, utilize the trails and bike racks to travel with ease while cutting down on the use of fuels that pollute the air.

Nick Springer, junior and music technology major, also suggested considering your diet’s effects on the environment. Talking about the food on campus, he said “Supporting the dining hall’s local food displays can reduce the strain of big industry agriculture on the environment.”

RecycleMania is an exciting competition for UMBC to take part in, but the efforts put forth have greater implications. While winning this contest could improve our already environmentally-friendly campus, by working hard to excel as competitors in RecyleMania, the UMBC community can also benefit the environment on a larger scale.

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