Recyclemania is back at Southern for another year

Amanda Brail – News Reporter –

Recyclemania is back and better than ever, according to Heather Stearns, Recycling Coordinator at Southern Connecticut State University.

“It has gotten better every year,” said Stearns about the five years that Southern has participated in the event. “Students know what it is now, so it’s just getting better all the time.”

Recyclemania is what she called a “friendly competition” between colleges and universities all over the nation to see who can recycle the most. According to her, the competition, which starts Feb. 3 and ends on Mar. 30, is more about reducing the school’s waste than actual recycling. Students are asked to recycle what Stearns said were “the simple things that most of us recycle in our daily lives” such as paper, plastic, cardboard, bottles and cans.

“It’s about trying to think about what you’re putting into the waste-stream and what could have went into the recycling bin,” she said.

Not only is the event a nationwide competition, but according to Stearns there is also an internal competition, in which the winning residence hall — the hall that recycles the most — gets a party thrown for them at the end of the eight-week period.

All American Waste, LLC., S.C.S.U.’s service provider, has teamed up with Stearns to weigh and report the university’s recycling once a week, according to Joe Engravalle, the major accounts manager at the company.

“The campus as a whole is starting to really embrace the recycling efforts,” said Engravalle. “I think it’s really becoming a better program for the university; I think everybody is really getting on board.”

Suzanne Havens from the Office of Sustainability is not directly involved with Recyclemania this year, but she is running another green effort through Southern called the Campus Conservation National which, according to her, is a three-week, national energy conservation contest.

She said this is Southern’s second year participating in the energy conservation contest and that last year the university ranked fourth in the competition, nationally.

“The point of the competition is to increase awareness about the importance of energy conservation,” said Havens, “and to get students participating in an effort that is good for the campus community.”

Both Recyclemania and the Campus Conservation National are part of the President’s Climate Commitment pledge that Southern signed onto in 2007. According to Havens, this is a national effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change and colleges across the nation are participating in it.

“Basically what we’re doing is working on energy efficiency and conservation, waste reduction and recycling, and starting to use renewable energy, in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” she said about the pledge.

Havens said that other efforts towards “being green” can be seen across campus, such as the solar panels on top of Brownell Hall and the entire School of Business, which just earned a Leed Gold Certification, which is “a super energy efficient and climate control friendly award,” according to her.

“It’s a whole sustainability effort on campus,” said Stearns. “It’s about awareness; it’s about making sure people understand what we’re doing and that we are looking to green the campus, better our environment, and take advantage of the opportunities that sustainability efforts give us.”

Stearns also said that she hopes Southern students can reduce the waste stream and increase their recycling numbers this year. “I hope that we do see a concerted effort across campus,” she said, “here’s such a payoff there.”