Hours after Badger fans left Camp Randall following the Homecoming game Saturday, student volunteers remained, ""clearing the bowl"" of trash left behind.
REthink Wisconsin, a student volunteer organization, is a coalition that devotes its time and resources to ""encourage and facilitate sustainable waste management practices throughout the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus,"" according to its website.
""After football games, most students and fans simply drop their used bottles and food containers on the ground without realizing that this trash and recyclable material is picked up by hand,"" Lindsey Schiller, co-chair of REthink Wisconsin, said.
Formed in the fall of 2007, REthink WI officially became a student organization this year, and works with WE Conserve and the University Athletic Department in addition to other student organizations.
""Until two years ago, there was no extensive recycling program at Camp Randall,"" Schiller said. ""By diverting waste from a landfill, REthink environmental volunteers save environmental resources and energy, and save the Athletic Department money.""
This year, REthink WI has recycled over 5,000 pounds of recyclable material—double what was recycled over the entire football season last year.
Schiller hopes to make the program a more permanent part of athletic events at UW-Madison, beginning with students getting more involved.
""We would really like to let students know that volunteers pick these bottles up, and they can make a huge difference by simply discarding their bottle in one of the recycling bins,"" Schiller said.
