Green Corner: Recyclemania raises green awareness

Have you ever thought about what you can do with this issue of The Rider News once you’re done reading it? You could always keep the paper to use for crafts, a fan or a makeshift doormat for your dorm room. Or better yet, you could recycle the paper in one of the many appropriate receptacles throughout campus.
If every student who read The Rider News were to “trash” his or her copy, we would be at a loss in our sustainability effort. However, just imagine if every copy of The Rider News made its way into the recycling bin. Rider would be making a huge impact on the amount of paper that gets recycled as opposed to paper that is compacted in landfills. Taking a simple step that requires only minutes or even seconds of your time could help make an enormous impact on sustainability as a whole.
Currently, Rider is participating in a national competition known as Recyclemania. It is an eight-week-long friendly competition that encourages colleges and universities across the United States and Canada to increase their sustainability. More than 600 colleges and universities participated last year. Recyclemania is a great way to measure Rider’s sustainable impact against schools far and wide.
The main goal of Recyclemania is to raise awareness regarding recycling here at Rider. If you currently live a green lifestyle, keep up the good work and challenge yourself to add a new sustainable activity to your daily grind. If you are unsure of how to recycle or where to start, stop by the Recyclemania information tables located in the student center at Westminster from 12:30 to 1 p.m. and alternating between Cranberry’s and the Student Recreation Center lobby from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the Lawrenceville campus.
Each week, the Eco-Reps are bringing you a specific theme and challenge of sustainability. Hopefully, you are already doing your part by recycling plastics, aluminum and paper products. However, there may be other recyclable items that you don’t yet know about. One major area is food waste. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, food waste is the second largest category of solid waste that is trashed by Americans, with paper being the first. Both paper and food waste should be foreign to landfills. Paper can easily be collected for recycling and food waste is simple to compost. When finishing a loaf of bread try to use the ends for toast or as breadcrumbs. If you still have no purpose for the bread, take it to the pond and feed the birds. Get creative and find ways to use every bit of the food that you purchase. If a large portion of your trash comes from food waste, rethink how much food you buy, or begin to compost things like eggshells, food scraps, coffee filters and tea bags. Every little bit helps make a difference.
-Mark Laseter
Westminster Eco-Rep
Printed in the 2/19/14 edition