Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Albert Sun A large pile of trash was displayed during a RecycleMania event last week at the foot of the Ben Franklin statue on College Green. Public displays like this are meant to encourage increased recycling efforts. [Click to enlarge]

When do Penn students, staff and administration collaborate to promote a cause?

Yesterday - at RecycleMania's latest event, the signing of the Recycling Pledge in Houston Hall.

Students signed the pledge, which encourages them to take action by learning about recycling and waste reduction and lead by example. In return, they received free Nalgene bottles.

RecycleMania is a ten-week competition among college campuses "to see who can motivate their campus communities to recycle more and reduce overall waste," according to the RecycleMania Web site.

At Penn, RecycleMania is a collaboration between Business Services, College Housing and Academic Services, Facilities and Real Estate Services, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, the Penn Environmental Group and the Undergraduate Assembly, according to an e-mail from director of communications and external relations for Business Services Barbara Lea-Kruger.

College senior Sarah Abroms, co-committee chair of facilities and campus planning for the UA and a member of PEG, said, "I think this whole event is a good sign of collaboration between students, administration and staff."

Many members of Penn staff and administration were in attendance, including Penn President Amy Gutmann.

Recycling, Gutmann said, "is one of the things we all can do to make a difference. It's a very important step for every individual in the Penn community to help mitigate the damaging effects of climate change."

Wharton sophomore Laura Boudreau, administrative co-chair of PEG, said that there will be about one event for each week of the competition and so far. The program has been "really successful," she said, and as this is Penn's first year in the competition, "everything is an experiment."

Future events include mural painting near 1920 Commons this weekend and Valentine's Day events.

Discussing the turnout at the Recycle Pledge event, Abroms said, "a lot of the water bottles have been taken since I got here - it's exciting."

"Student turnout is terrific, and the enthusiasm behind it is even more impressive," Gutmann said.

After reading the Pledge, College freshman Benjamin Schwarz said he will now "lead by example with recycling … [which] has become an increasingly important issue as global warming is now a hot topic."

For more information on RecycleMania events, to track weekly recycling totals or to find out more about recycling at Penn, visit Penn's RecycleMania Web site at www.upenn.edu/recyclemania.

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