As football fans cheered on the Knights Saturday in the new Stadium, the Physical Plant tackled its largest recycling program to date.
"This campus has never done it before to this magnitude," Physical Plant Assistant Director Brian Wormwood said.
Wormwood and his team at the Physical Plant and Landscaping and Natural Resources worked hard to prepare for the thousands of fans who flocked to the campus in anticipation of UCF's inaugural game in Bright House Networks Stadium.
One thing they will admit is that Saturday was a learning experience. Wormwood said that next week, they'll start putting out the trash cans and recycling bins earlier.
They scattered about 360 cardboard bins for recycling and about 400 more cardboard bins for trash around campus.
"We bought cardboard boxes," said Montel Watson, interim director of the Physical Plant. "We're trying to maximize effort by being cost-efficient."
Wormwood said they covered the campus fairly well on Saturday but that for next week, they'll double or triple the amount of bins.
Wormwood enlisted the help of SGA to promote the recycling program and to get students involved. SGA recruited about 40 volunteers, many from Campus Crusade for Christ.
"Since God created the environment, it's very important to protect it, and we're out here helping any way we can," said David Pessoli, a staff member from Campus Crusade for Christ.
Volunteers distributed trash and recycling bags to tailgaters.
Wormwood said workers would spend the majority of today and Tuesday sorting through everything to make sure the trash and recyclables were separated. It's expected that about 15,000 pounds of recycled materials will have been collected by then.
By promoting recycling at every home game, Wormwood said he hopes the campus will start a new tradition with the Stadium.
"We look at it as an opportunity to recycle in front of the whole campus today," Wormwood said.
The Physical Plant put together a map that highlights where trash cans, recycling containers, charcoal barrels (for hot coals), fire extinguishers and bicycle racks will be located on campus during gamedays. At least 1,000 copies of the maps were handed out to students.
Wormwood said the consensus mid-Saturday was that people were doing a good job bagging their own trash and recyclable. There were also people making sure that no one littered.
Mike Ellis, a worker for Physical Plant Special Services, said getting around to all the bins was going very slowly. He was worried that people weren't realizing they were supposed to recycle.
Danny Buttafogo, a junior international relations major, said he thinks UCF did an excellent job keeping the campus clean. He is also a part of Campus Crusade for Christ, and joined their volunteer effort.
After the trash and recyclables are all sorted and sent off, the Physical Plant will have to begin preparations for this Saturday's home game.
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