Message received? Penn State football fans making strides with tailgate cleanup, CCRRA says
Someone told me the other day, “If you haven’t heard how to recycle properly at Penn State football games, you have been living under a rock!” That made my day. We have been pushing our message in as many directions as we can, and I do believe it is starting to pay off.
We have had our message in print, on TV, all over the local radio stations, on social media — you name it, we have been trying to hit it. And I do believe it is working. We have been getting less trash in the blue recycling bags and more recycling in the blue recycling bags and the tailgate areas have been left cleaner by the fans.
But we will not stop getting the message out because we know that for as many fans that we have reached, there are just as many that we haven’t. If you are one who still may be unsure of how to recycle properly while attending a PSU football game this season, this column is for you.
Once you settle in at your tailgate spot, walk over to an A-frame labeled for PSU Football Recycling. The A-frames contain two colors of bags (blue bags for recycling plastic bottles, glass bottles and aluminum cans — and clear bags for everything else). We are only collecting plastic bottles, glass bottles and metal cans for recycling in the blue bags (we are no longer taking paper for recycling at the tailgates). If you are unsure about which bags to use for bottles and cans and which bags to use for everything else, reminders are posted at the A-frames.
Once you fill your blue bags with bottles and cans, just tie up the bag and leave it at your tailgate. Do the same with your clear trash bag: tie it up and leave it at your tailgate. The grounds crew will begin collecting blue and clear bags the morning after the game. Clear bags will go to the landfill and the blue bags will be delivered to the Centre County Recycling & Refuse Authority where the contents will be sorted and recycled.
To sort the recyclables, employees of CCRRA will open each bag by hand and empty the contents on our sorting conveyor belt. They will then sort the materials from the bags by hand into the following categories: plastic bottles, clear glass bottles, green glass bottles, brown glass bottles and metal cans. The recyclables will be prepared and sent to market and made into new products.
Please help me educate your friends and family on proper recycling at football tailgates this fall. I know as a community we can do this!
Remember when you are at Beaver Stadium for a game this year: Blue bags are for bottles and cans only — clear bags are for trash.
Lastly, leave your tailgate area better than you found it. Our employees, the PSU grounds crew and your community will thank you for it.
As always, thanks for recycling and WE ARE!
