Campus residents still have a shot at a $200 scholarship or national recognition through two competitions that nurture UCF's "green" side.
RecycleMania - a 10-week nationwide contest, which started Jan. 28 - and a February energy-saving competition organized by the Physical Plant's Center for Energy and Sustainability, are in full stride as the month draws to a close.
"There are over 200 colleges and universities participating in RecycleMania '07," said Brian Wormwood, the assistant director of the Physical Plant and coordinator of the competition at UCF.
"We are collecting recyclables in the residential areas on the main and Rosen campuses," Wormwood said. "We are collecting cardboard, plastic bottles, aluminum cans and mixed paper, which include magazines, junk mail, newspapers, etc."
In order to participate, students only need to place their recyclables in the blue bins that have been placed near their buildings in participating communities.
The competition is an opportunity for students to help UCF garner national recognition for its recycling efforts.
However, the most important benefit is for the environment. "It is the right thing to do, everyone knows it is so and wonders why we do not do more than we have been doing," Wormwood said. "Here is a chance to get involved, to participate in something that can directly change how we do things on campus."
The Center for Energy and Sustainability's energy saving contest is another way main campus residents can do the right thing. In conjunction with SGA, the Center for Energy and Sustainability is offering 10 $200 scholarships to contest winners, said Stacey Radnor, the marketing specialist of the Center for Energy and Sustainability.
The money will go to nine residents and one resident assistant in the building that is able to reduce its energy use the most this month in comparison to its energy usage during February 2006. Students in that building will then have to write a short essay on what they did to save energy throughout the month.
"The competition was created to add a little fun to the concept of energy conservation," Radnor said. "Our hope is that if they learn now, it will last a lifetime."
While recycling and habits for saving energy are something new to some students, for others - like freshman political science major Marla Seedman - they are second nature.
"Long before I even began my first semester at UCF, I was an active environmentalist and certainly an advocate of basic, innovative energy conservation," Seedman said. "I have most certainly taken my energy conserving habits with me to college in the sense that I always turn off lights, shut down and unplug my laptop, microwave, desk lamp and any other electronics before I leave the room. I also readily encourage my roommate, suitemates and friends to do the same in order to cut down on unneeded energy use."
Seedman said that she appreciates the challenge to continue to save energy, as it helps her to maintain good habits.
"Slowly but surely more and more students are coming to college with an understanding [of energy conservation], and with programs like this the students who aren't aware will become more aware," said Katie Rutkowski, the area coordinator for Nike community. "I think the UCF community does a great job of this by bringing it to the attention of the students and then making it easier on them by providing simple ways to start making changes in their lives. I think it comes down to communicating the importance and providing easy ways to help."
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