Oklahoma State University recyclers showing can-do spirit
BY AMANDA O'TOOLE
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Published: November 3, 2009
STILLWATER — Dirty diapers, spilled cheese dip and crawdad heads aren’t enough to keep Oklahoma State University students Jesi Lay and Rachel Branch from their passion.
For three years, the Student Government Association’s
Sustainability Committee has sponsored "Real
Cowboys Recycle” to encourage tailgaters to save aluminum cans.
Volunteers hand out green bags at tailgate sites before home football games and collects them.
Aluminum cans are donated to Stillwater’s
Habitat for Humanity chapter. Last year, the cans raised about $1,000 for the nonprofit group, said Lay, a
Broken Arrow senior who leads the committee.
They’re still trying to increase awareness of the program and of recycling in general.
"Everything goes to Habitat for Humanity, and I think sometimes they forget about it,” Lay said.
The group believes that more would participate if they knew about the program and would recycle correctly if they knew how much work it takes to sort through the sometimes trash-filled bags.
"We wish people would realize we do sort through each individual bag at the end of the game. It’s easier on us if they put (only) the cans in there,” Lay said.
Fewer than 10 volunteers worked until 3 a.m. or later after the homecoming game against
Missouri last month, she said. Like always, the group dumped the bags on the ground outside, wading through leftovers for cans.
"It gets pretty nasty,” Lay said. "By the time we’re done, we all smell like we’ve been at a bar for a week straight.”
Lay estimated the group hands out 300 to 400 of the green bags each game. About 90 condensed bags were collected during the season opener against the
Georgia Bulldogs, a record.
Before Saturday’s game against
Texas, the group had collected about 330 bags of cans from four home games. Last season they collected 402 bags, an estimated 56,000 cans.
Branch, a Rose Hill,
Kan., junior, said: "The work we can do, it can be gross, and sometimes it seems like a lot to give up your Saturday, especially game days when your friends are going out. But we’re making a difference, and that’s really what matters.”
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