On behalf of Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary David E. Hess kicked off the "Rush to Recycle Challenge" during a visit to Penn State University, Harrisburg, September 21.
Colleges and universities across Pennsylvania will vie to increase their recycling percentages the most. The challenge will occur during an eight-week period from Oct. 7 to Nov. 30.
"The Rush to Recycle Challenge targets our next generation of Pennsylvanians to make recycling a way of life," Hess said. "And since college students are known for their innovation, perhaps they'll teach us a lesson or two on creative ways to reduce waste."
The overall goal of the challenge is to encourage participation among colleges and universities that are not actively involved in recycling to, while encouraging schools with established programs to further expand their efforts.
"We hope to make recycling a way of life among college students and have it transfer over into their adult lives," Centre County Recycling Coordinator Joanne Shaffer said.
Participating schools will report their current baseline of recyclable material collection to DEP. Every two weeks they will provide an update to measure their improvement. The campus that increases recycling by the greatest percentage over its baseline will be honored with a special event on campus, such as a concert, ice cream or pizza social or lawn party.
Participating colleges and universities include:
Allegheny County -- Carnegie Mellon University;
Bucks County -- Delaware Valley College;
Centre County -- Penn State University, University Park Campus;
Chester County -- West Chester University;
Crawford County -- Allegheny College;
Cumberland County -- Dickinson College;
Dauphin County -- Penn State University, Capital Campus; Harrisburg Area
Community College;
Delaware County -- Eastern University; Swarthmore College; Villanova
University;
Franklin County -- Wilson College;
Lancaster County -- Millersville University;
Luzerne County -- Kings College; Penn State University, Wilkes-Barre
Campus; Wilkes University
Mercer County -- Penn State University, Shenango Campus; and
Montgomery County -- Temple University, Ambler Campus.
Hess’s announcement was made at pre-game ceremonies for the Penn State-Louisiana Tech football game at Beaver Stadium. Hess and Penn State officials asked football fans to set a record for recycling the most materials at any Penn State home football game. The current record is 7.2 tons set at a home game in 1996.
"Penn State's game-day recycling program began in 1995 and is now entering its eighth season," Al Matyasovsky, Penn State director of solid waste management, said. "With the help of 875 Boy Scout and Girl Scout volunteers, we have collected 214 tons of recycled materials at 42 home football games."
The recycling program has saved the university $10,272 in tipping fees and resulted in a 7 percent decrease in post-game clean-up costs. Recyclable materials are sold, and the money raised is donated to the Centre County United Way. To date, more than $40,000 has been donated to the agency.