OU will be taking part in the GameDay Recycling Challenge during Saturday’s football game.
Students can help Ohio University win at Saturday's football game, but it’s not by helping the Bobcats on the field.
In conjunction to the football game, OU will be partaking in the GameDay Recycling Challenge, a nationwide competition among universities and colleges to reduce waste at their football games, according to the competition’s website.
The competition has a long-standing history at OU. In 1991, the previous recycling and refuse manager of OU, Ed Newman, challenged the recycling and refuse manger at Miami University to a friendly competition to see who could increase recycling rates at their respective schools. It spread, becoming a nationwide challenge as schools from all over the United States participated, according to Andrew Ladd, OU’s recycling and refuse manger.
Overall this year, OU has recycled, composted or donated 60 percent of the waste from football games.
“This shows a pretty significant ability to capture recycling,” Ladd said. “But if we are going to compete with some of the other schools we are going to have to be in the 90 percent range.”
Ladd said OU’s biggest competition will be the University of Akron, which won last year with a 90 percent recycling rate.
The Campus Recycling and Zero Waste staff at OU has been employing different techniques throughout the football season to test what improves recovery rates. One thing the staff has tried is better labeling of the the recycling bins, Ladd said.
Francesca Cappetta, a freshman studying German, said she appreciated the pictures labeling the recycling bins.
“It's super helpful to me and a lot of other people who don’t know where things should go,” she said.
Another method the staff is trying to include is adding more recycling bins, Ladd said.
"We've basically doubled capacity for recycling inside Peden Stadium, so for every place there is trash, we put two recycling bins, and that made a significant difference,” said Ladd.
The staff members also plan on having recycling bins that have bigger openings to see if that will make it more convenient for people to place something in the recycling bin versus the trash, Ladd said.
Saturday, the staff will be stationed at various places during the game to help people identify anything that can be recycled, Ladd said.
The most important component to winning will be the participation of students, Ladd said.
“Lots of evidence shows that community building changes behavior. That’s what we try to do with our Bobcats Recycle Campaign,” Ladd said. “It's important for students to know that their is a culture of recycling at OU.”
Rylie Brown, freshman studying journalism, said she believes in the importance of recycling and appreciates the efforts made by OU.
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“I feel like recycling benefits the community and environment as a whole,” she said.
Ladd said he wants everyone attending the game to make an conscious effort to be more eco-friendly.
“Look for bins, be a part of the movement,” he said. “Going to the game means being a part of the whole experience, and recycling is a part of that.”
Ladd said he hopes to accomplish more than just winning the GameDay Recycling Challenge.
“I want the take away for students to go beyond Saturday,” he said. “I hope this encourages students to integrate recycling into their daily choices.”
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