Jan. 16, 2009

Morningside College participates in national recycling competition

Morningside student Beau Cruse of Lincoln, Neb., prepares cardboard for the weekly pickup of recycled materials on campus.

Morningside College is one of more than 500 colleges and universities in the United States to register for the

2009 RecycleMania contest, which recognizes schools for achievements in recycling and waste reduction.

During a 10-week period, which starts January 18 and extends through March 28, Morningside students, faculty and staff will engage in a friendly competition with other schools across the country to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables per capita and the largest amount of total recyclables.

According to Jim Stroh, associate professor of biology at Morningside and co-chair of the college’s environmental sustainability committee, the objective of the event is to increase student awareness of campus recycling and waste reduction efforts.

"Like all colleges and universities entered in the RecycleMania competition, Morningside will report on a weekley basis the total pounds of materials collected on campus for recycling," Stroh said. "RecycleMania recognizes the participating schools at the end of the contest with trophies and awards for outstanding recycling results in a variety of categories."

Morningside College has an ongoing recycling program on campus that involves all residence halls, classroom buildings, administrative offices and other facilities. Annually, the college collects approximately 36 tons of paper and cardboard for recycling.