Recreation Center works for the environment

Extra weight isn’t the only thing students will be dropping at the Recreation Center this semester.

Students can drop off their empty plastic grocery bags at the Recreation Center and exchange them for eco-friendly reusable bags, said Corne Prozesky, assistant director of the Recreation Center.

The bag-collecting project was the brainchild of the “Green Team” a group of Recreation Center staff members and student workers who have decided to initiate eco-friendly projects in the Recreation Center, Prozesky said.

“We’re trying to green our business operations,” Prozesky said.  “So we created a small committee of students and myself to look at projects that can create awareness to our students.”

For every twenty plastic grocery bags a student brings in, they would be given one reusable grocery bag.  At the end of the semester, the bags would be put on display in the Recreation Center, said Dustin Soderman, a Green Team member.

“(It will be) a visual statement that all of these bags are going to be recycled,” Soderman said.  “We hope that a large visual statement will make people aware of what they are throwing away.”

After the bags have been displayed, they would ultimately be recycled, said Soderman, a graduate student in recreation from Pardeeville, Wis.

Robert Livingston, a Green Team member, said the group chose the project because they thought it would be simple and effective.

“Plastic bags are pretty easy to deal with,” said Livingston.  “Seeing the impact of how many plastic bags you use is pretty alarming.”

Soderman said the project has been successful so far.  At least 3,000 bags have been collected and more reusable bags remain to be given out.  The Green Team plans to stop collecting bags once they run out of reusable bags to hand out.

Prozesky said the Recreation Center hopes to take on new eco-friendly projects each semester. Next semester, they are hoping to collect plastic water bottles in exchange for reusable ones, he said.

Soderman said the Green Team also hopes to plan a canoe trip to Cedar Lake to pick up litter.

“Through the Green Team we hope to continue to offer environmentally friendly programs throughout the year,” Soderman said.

Prozesky said he hopes the eco-friendly projects would also serve as marketing tools for the Recreation Center.

Soderman said these projects provide the Recreation Center an opportunity to give back to the campus.

“We are a facility that services a large portion of the campus,” Soderman said.  “It’s our responsibility to do something for the campus.”

Kathleen Richards can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 262.