Southeastern awarded grant to support recycling, participate in recycling event
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
by:Rene Abadie
HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University's Physical Plant and Sustainability Science and Technology Center have been selected to receive a $9,500 Healthy Communities Grant from Keep Louisiana Beautiful (KLB), the state's premier anti-litter and community improvement organization.
The grant will support the university's recycling efforts on campus by providing much needed outdoor recycle bins. There are currently no recycle bins outdoors on campus, and it is hoped the addition of them will make a positive impact on an already growing recycling program.
"We are working to create a culture of recycling on campus that our students will take with them into our communities, the marketplace, and beyond," said Carlos Doolittle, manager of landscapes, grounds, and recycling at Southeastern.
The grant will also allow for Southeastern's participation in a recycling drive on Saturday, November 15, to celebrate "America Recycles Day," a Keep America Beautiful event.
"As this is also the last Lion home football game of the regular season, we will also take part in the GameDay Recycling Challenge," he said. "The GameDay Recycling Challenge is a friendly competition for colleges and universities to promote waste reduction by implementing waste reduction programs during home football games. Schools track and report waste reduction and disposal data from collection bins to submit for the competition.
Bins will be located in the West Strawberry Stadium lot prior to kickoff, and there will also be bins placed throughout the stadium during the game. The university's newly-formed Southeastern Sustainability Society and the Student Government Association will be providing volunteer assistance for the event.
"When you come tailgate on Nov. 15, why not bring your recyclable cardboard, cans, plastic bottles, and paper to help Southeastern win the Game Day Recycling Challenge?" asked Danilo Miranda, sustainability graduate assistant at the Southeastern Physical Plant. "We're proud to offer this opportunity before and during the 3 p.m. game."
Keep Louisiana Beautiful is a volunteer-based service organization dedicated to a litter free Louisiana. Each year, KLB awards competitive Healthy Communities Grants to organizations across the state as part of its efforts to "promote personal, corporate, and community responsibility for a clean and beautiful Louisiana." Last year over 23,000 people volunteered more than 107,000 hours with KLB's affiliates. These volunteers picked up 670,000 pounds of roadway and waterway litter in an effort to keep Louisiana beautiful.
