Sid wins intercollege recycling contest

By Bianca Walker     12/4/08 6:00pm

Inter-college competition includes not only sports, but also saving the Earth one Coke can at a time. Last month, Sid Richardson College outshone the other colleges in a November-only aluminum recycling competition with 54 pounds of collected material - more than twice the amount of runner-up Wiess College. Overall campus recycling increased by 52 percent. The project was the latest sustainability-oriented effort from the class ENST 302: Environmental Issues: Rice in the Future. Sid senior Kassaundra Escalera, sophomore Paige Bailey, junior Meghan Binford and Will Rice College sophomore Abby Banks-Golub chose to run the contest as part of their final project on recycling. The students focused on aluminum recycling because of its ability to be recycled infinitely, Escalera said.

"[The class] uses the campus as a laboratory for learning about sustainability," Director of Sustainability Richard R. Johnson said.

During the course of the class, the professors encourage the students to become aware of environmental issues and to find ways to solve them. Projects such as the aluminum-recycling competition fit in with the course's focus on enhancing sustainability on-campus.

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The class group arranged for the college with the most recycled aluminum waste in November to be awarded the proceeds from the aluminum recycling center, which totaled $100.

"It is always good to introduce a competitive aspect to recycling," Martel College Eco-Rep Rachel Carlson said. "A lot of people only recycle when it is convenient."

She said many students need an incentive to recycle, and that the profits from the recycling center may have motivated students to participate in the project.

The results speak for themselves, Escalera said. Besides Sid's 1.5 percent increase from their pre-competition aluminum contribution, Wiess College recycled 26 pounds, and Will Rice College followed closely with 23 pounds. Two colleges which had no recycling before the campaign, Brown and Lovett Colleges, were able to establish recycling programs.

While the competition was decided in terms of greatest weight of aluminum contributed, the class group also collected information about the rate of aluminum recycled before their competition and campaign. Every college succeeded in increasing its rates, except Wiess, where recycling decreased by 7 pounds.

"The best we can do is hope that it has had an effect," Banks-Golub said.

The other group members, along with Johnson and Sociology Professor Elizabeth Long, who teaches the class, hope the competition has a lasting effect on Rice and that students will continue to recycle aluminum at the rates they have been during the competition.

"Many major environmental initiatives and success stories are connected in some way to this class," Johnson said.

The sustainability policy adopted by Rice University in April 2004 was drafted by students from the ENST 302 spring 2004 class.

"Sustainability plays a critical role in the process of helping to green our campus," Johnson said. "It's a real joy to work with [students]. The students are the ones to make the difference."

Banks-Golub recommends everyone to take the initiative to recycle.

"Recycle - it's one of the easiest things you can do to make a difference," she said.

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