Participate in Campus Race to Zero Waste

As a New Year’s resolution, you may have decided to make changes in your behavior to minimize your environmental impact. Many of us want to consume less, implement more sustainable habits, and make environmentally conscious choices. One of the easiest changes you can make is to recycle more and learn about what is recyclable where you live! 

UK Recycling is participating in a national recycling competition called Campus Race to Zero Waste from January 30th to March 26th. This competition is to encourage students to recycle more and to learn about what is recyclable. The competition not only reduces UK’s environmental footprint, but also serves as a benchmark to compare our campus recycling efforts with other colleges around the country,

One of the biggest obstacles to recycling occurs when unacceptable materials are placed in recycling bins. Thanks to the UK’s Recycling program, students have access to all the important information about what can and cannot be recycled!

According to UK Recycling, some acceptable items to recycle include:

• Cardboard boxes, including pizza boxes, cereal boxes, cardboard tubes, boxes with grey or brown inside, and any box that doesn’t have a plastic lining.
• Paper, including magazines, notepads, calendars, colored paper, envelopes, brochures, phone books, fliers, brown paper bags, and folders.
• Cans, including alumuinum and steel food cans.
• Plastic Bottles and jugs only, including soda, juice, water, milk, and detergent bottles.

Some non-acceptable items to recycle include:

• Plastic cups
• Plastic bags (return to grocery store instead!)
• Styrofoam
• Food

Of course, the easiest way to reduce waste is to reduce your consumption of these single-use items. It doesn’t require a drastic change to begin living with less waste. It can be as simple as packing a lunch in reusable containers instead of buying takeout, carrying a reusable water bottle and utilizing the refill stations around campus, or choosing to go paperless for class notes and homework. If you’ve already made some of these changes, try encouraging a friend to join the challenge, too!

Zero-waste living might feel unattainable for many college students, but these simple changes often make the biggest difference. You can visit the UK Recycling website to read the comprehensive list of recyclable items and learn more about other forms of recycling, food waste diversion, and campus recycling programs.