For 10 weeks, Portland State students and staff worked to recycle more and waste less while competing with more than 400 schools nationwide, as part of an effort to succeed in the seventh year of RecycleMania.
The annual national recycling competition saw PSU place 20th out of 95 schools participating in the waste minimization category, and 122nd out of 180 schools in the per capita classic, which measures amount of recycled materials. In last year’s competition, PSU placed 13th out of 66 schools in the waste minimization category and 103rd out of 175 schools in the per capita classic.
Though PSU’s rankings slipped, less trash was generated overall during the competition. According to RecycleMania, PSU participants averaged 4.59 pounds of trash generated per week, down from 6.05 pounds in 2007. However, the average participant also recycled less, at 1.03 pounds of recycled materials per week, compared to 1.32 pounds in 2007.
Julia Person, a graduate assistant in the PSU Sustainability Office, said she was pleased overall with the amount of participation from students and staff in this year’s challenge. She said it is difficult to reach a campus made up largely of commuting part-time students and adjunct professors.
“Considering the large size of PSU and the amount of students we had to reach, I’m impressed with how well we did,” Person said. “I think it’s great that there was less trash on campus this year, and that can benefit our sustainability beyond the contest.”
To calculate results, the Sustainability Office gathers data on the amounts of waste and recyclables generated each week by the university. Those numbers are then submitted to RecycleMania, which ranks the schools according to their performance.
In RecycleMania 2008, the number of full-time PSU students and staff that were calculated in the results was 18,530-more than three times the figure used for waste minimization leader North Lake College, in Texas, where results were figured based on 5,616 full-time participants.
Person said the smaller schools have an easier time telling students and staff beforehand to be aware of their waste and recycling habits during RecycleMania. Noelle Studer, PSU sustainability coordinator, said she feels RecycleMania success depends on early preparation and good strategy.
“It’s a little bit like fitness training: If I want to run a marathon next year, today is the best time for me to start training,” Studer said. “We’re a bit on the flabby side–too many disposable coffee cups, too much food waste in recycling containers, too much paper, bottles and cans in the trash.”
Christel Eichner, resource management coordinator in the Sustainability Office, said she is optimistic that PSU can finish in the top five next year if students and staff know about the competition early enough. Eichner previously worked with Trashco, the group that collects PSU’s waste, and said that sustainable practices start with making people aware of what they throw away.
“Having worked on the receiving end of waste, I know it’s important to implement good management strategies, but it’s more beneficial to just stem the flow of waste in the first place,” Eichner said.
Studer said the increased waste reduction for this year’s RecycleMania was a joint effort between students and PSU food service provider Aramark, well-coordinated residence halls and the Facilities and Planning department.
She said an ongoing effort to reduce waste will include two open forums next month, on May 8 and 25 from noon to 1 p.m. in Smith Memorial Student Union, room 327, during which students and staff can share their ideas on how to keep a lid on trash.