Ecologue

If you have passed through the Memorial Union Quad yet this week, you may have noticed a new presence: a heaping, stinking beast most foul!

The RecycleMania Trash Monster, as it’s known, was built by our student volunteer team the Waste Watchers last week. It is built a monster out of 260 lbs. of trash – the amount an average person will throw away in February and March. The tail is made out of recyclables found in the trash – 24% by weight was actually recyclable. The monster will be on display in the M.U. Quad this week to kick-off RecycleMania and raise awareness of waste reduction.

Check out this slideshow showing our construction party and photos of the monster after it was unleashed into the M.U. Quad on Monday:

The presence of the Trash Monster kicks off RecycleMania, an annual 8-week competition for U.S. college and university recycling programs to see who can recycle the most. In addition to competing nationally, OSU competes with University of Oregon in the RecycleMania Civil War. Last year UO beat us in the Civil War for the first time since it was created in 2010. We plan to take back the title and trophy this year!

You can get involved in RecycleMania by recycling and composting more, and throwing away less. To give you the know-how and tools to reduce waste, consider attending our events! Below is a list of those coming soon.

More RecycleMania Events

Here is a list of events for the first three weeks of RecycleMania (click on the event title for more details). A full list of events is on the Campus Recycling website, and additional events and details will be added there as the competition goes on.

• Hall Recycling Competition: February 1-21, all res. halls
• RecycleMania Kick-off Trash Monster Display: Monday-Friday, February 3-7, M.U. Quad
• Career Wardrobe Makeover: Thursday, February 13, 10 am-3 pm, M.U. Ballroom
• Valentine’s Day E-Cards: Friday, February 14, on Campus Recycling’s Facebook page
• February Repair Fair: Wednesday, February 19, 5:30-7:30 pm, Recycling Warehouse, 644 SW 13th St.

We hope to see you at some of our events. Happy RecycleMania!