Eco Leaders will be demonstrating how much food is wasted on campus in one day at Colorado State University on Wednesday.
Eco Leaders will be in the plaza on Wednesday, March 8 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., sorting through trash for recyclables and compost. Garbage trucks will be bringing trash from Parmalee and Corbett and taking sorted trash and recyclables to appropriate locations throughout the event. Volunteers will be inviting passersby to help sort.
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Dominique Ashe, an Eco Leader and ASCSU Senator for Natural Resources, said the purpose of the audit is to educate students about the sustainable disposal of food and trash.
“We want to emphasize recycling as a sustainable tool that students can use to reduce their environmental impact on a daily basis,” Ashe said. “It gets people to think about repercussions and how they can use resources on campus to recycle, compost and avoid trash.”
The audit coincides with RecycleMania, a yearly collegiate recycling competition by Keep America Beautiful. This year it lasts from Feb. 5 to April 1. Ashe said CSU ranks No. 17 with a 61 percent recycling rate.
Saphyre Kelly, an Eco Leader and sophomore biology major, also said the purpose is educational as well as an important project.
“It will be one big sort for the community,” Kelly said.
For those who want to be more involved in sustainability, additional activities are available to students and the community.
Eco Leaders provide educational movie nights and programs with Resident Assistants and Hall Councils throughout each semester. There is also a program called Green Warrior which helps students commit to sustainable living.
An online game, recyclinggame.colostate.edu, allows students to use their eID to login and sort items into the correct bins. Top scorers are entered into a raffle to win prizes.
Technotrash bins by GreenDisk are available on campus to recycle electronic devices. There is one in the Morgan Library and many residence halls and dining halls host these bins as well.
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Students interested in volunteering for the Food Waste Audit can sign up online.
Collegian reporter Jym Cox can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @jym2233.
