In an effort to help promote Ohio State as a zero-waste campus, a Recyclemania competition between North Campus residence halls Blackburn House and Norton House has begun.
From Feb. 5 through Feb. 25, both halls will have their respective recycling bins measured to determine their weight in recyclable items.
The winning residence hall will then be awarded a plaque at the end of the contest.
The competition’s goal is to “raise awareness about recycling and how to effectively use recycling to help the environment,” said Colin Barclay, a first-year in crop science and the sustainability chair for Norton House.
Recyclemania is a challenge among universities throughout the country, according to its website. Though Blackburn and Norton will be competing against each other, they are ultimately working together to promote an overall reduction in trash and increase in recycling at OSU.
The competition began with a kick-off event for the residents on Feb. 1 in the Royer Student Activities Center. Activities included games, crafts made out of recyclable items and a trivia contest. There was also a station to make Valentine’s Day cards by reusing scrap material.
Sara Burcham, a second-year in food business management and sustainability chair of Blackburn House, said she would like to see students get involved in the process.
“I really hope that they get recycling to be a habit,” Burcham said. “It’s really easy to throw something in a trash can and it’s gone from your mind. But there’s so much more that happens.”
Burcham said every one can make a difference when it comes to recycling.
“I think that just by promoting reducing, reusing and recycling, all of the students in the residence halls (can) have an enormous impact. I hope that they realize that,” Burcham said.
Sustainability competitions take place between the two halls once per quarter, each with a different focus. Blackburn House won the first competition, which dealt with energy efficiency. The theme of Spring Quarter will be water conservation.
