Arizona State University’s Undergraduate Student Government Downtown educated students and others on recycling as part of its second annual Earth Day event on Wednesday.
USGD distributed bread, fruit and Chipotle coupons in exchange for recyclable items at their Earth Day Market event held at Taylor Mall. This year’s event was different than the previous year’s, as there was also an educational component.
“The idea is to bring in your recyclables and trade them for items that we purchase as an organization,” said Maryann Hoang, USGD senator for the College of Nursing and Health Innovation. “This year we added an educational component because we felt like, it’s Earth Day. It’s not just about recycling, but also learning about the different modes of how we maintain the Earth.”
Hoang said the educational component was through the Zero Waste organization, which teaches about waste reduction.
“We are answering any questions people have about recycling, just promote awareness of how to recycle on campus,” said Zero Waste employee Gil Leibovich. “We have a game here with recycling questions. We’ll ask them recycling questions and if people answer correctly, we’re giving out prizes. We also have some demonstrations out.”
Zero Waste was also at the event to promote an upcoming move-out day event called Ditch the Dumpster.
Ditch the Dumpster helps students who are moving in and out of their dorms divert waste associated with moving from the landfills.
“It might be all the cardboard boxes and even Styrofoam that comes in appliances and furniture,” Leibovich said. “We help divert those from landfills.”
Zero Waste will also collect items such as clothing, electronics and hygiene products that would otherwise be thrown out for donation. Leibovich said even half-full bottles of cleaning supplies and shampoo could be donated.
Ernesto Hernandez, USGD vice president of student services-elect, further explained the impact of the Earth Day Market.
Hernandez said USGD ordered bread from Arizona Bread Company and got donations from Sprouts Farmers Market. Students could exchange their recyclable items for bread.
“Students have been seeing that we have all this produce and all these incentives for them to recycle,” Hernandez said. “They’ve gone back to Taylor Place and they’ve come back to bring their items from Taylor Place and say, ‘Hey, I have all this paper. What do I do with it? How do I get this free bread?’ Just seeing the impact on their faces has been really nice, because they want to recycle, and just having these items here as an incentive is very helpful for them to know that recycling is important.”
Contact the columnist at Holly.Bernstein@asu.edu
