Do you know what to do with that red Solo cup after a night of partying? Most, UW-Madison students don't. However, UW-Madison Wisconsin Public Interest Group's, Conservation and Recycling Efforts Campaign (CARE) has been working to combat this problem.
While UW-Madison received an overall grade of an A on the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card, their only B was in the category of Food and Recycling. Thus, CARE's work hopes to inform students and change this.
Over the past two semesters CARE has been conducting a Recycling IQ quiz, in order to gage students knowledge, discover where students lack information and spread awareness about recycling on campus. Questions included ""what types of plastics are accepted at Madison recycling centers,"" ""where can fluorescent light bulbs be dropped off for recycling"" and ""if you were a greasy pizza box where would you be?"" The quiz was given to over 150 students and the results illustrate that on average, students answered 6 out of 10 questions correctly. Although plastic items are generally more prevalent than non-plastic, overall, fewer questions pertaining to plastics were answered correctly. Furthermore, the question that the most students answered incorrectly was ""almost all kinds of plastic and paper cups cannot be recycled.""
CARE hopes to use this information to continue educating students about recycling. Specifically, CARE wants to improve knowledge about the recycling of plastics and educate students about which plastic and non-plastic items can be recycled. Recycling is one of the easiest ways to conserve. If you want to become a more active UW student and a more conscious consumer, check out the City of Madison's website. With a click of a button you will find clear guidelines for what to do with that pizza box or red Solo cup.
—Alexa Lichte and Alicia Sklan
