OSU student named Oklahoma Collegiate Recycler of the Year
Friday, November 30, 2007
(STILLWATER, OKLA. -- Nov. 28, 2007) -- An Oklahoma State University student has been named Oklahoma’s Collegiate Recycler of the Year for making recycling part of the tailgating experience at the university.
Cortney Timmons, a biosystems and agricultural engineering junior from Ada, was among Oklahoma’s 2007 America Recycles Day “Recycling Heroes” honored at the seventh annual America Recycles Day banquet in Tulsa on Nov 15. Chosen from statewide nominees, Recycling Heroes are recognized for dedication to preserving the earth’s natural resources and protecting the environment.
Timmons was honored for initiating OSU’s football game day recycling program, “Real Cowboys Recycle.” Borrowing its name from OSU’s campus-wide recycling effort, the initiative is led by the Student Government Association and ECO-OSU, the Stillwater campus’s grass-roots environmental organization.
“The trust was particularly interested in the OSU tailgate recycling program because it shows great innovation and it is the perfect setting to get the entire OSU community involved,” said Julie Alexander of The Metropolitan Environmental Trust that administers the Recycling Hero awards. “We want to encourage success and recognize the hard work that goes into developing a new program like the tailgate recycling program Cortney and OSU started.”
Timmons, chairwoman of SGA’s recycling committee, modeled “Real Cowboys Recycle” after “Tiger Tailgate Recycling,” a program conceived by University of Missouri students in 2006. In May, she became OSU’s latest Morris K. Udall Scholar and met one of the UM students at a summer orientation for recipients of the nationally competitive award for students committed to careers in the environment, health care and tribal public policy.
“What started as a small project patterned after Mizzou’s program has turned into an opportunity to get alumni, students, staff, faculty and the Stillwater community to focus on recycling,” Timmons said. “It’s exciting that OSU was recognized for this effort.”
Timmons attributed the success of “Real Cowboys Recycle” to support from Sustainable Stillwater, the OSU Athletic Department and R & E Recycling, the Stillwater recycling company that each weekend provided the program one of its trailers.
“The athletic department, especially Amy Weeks, was very supportive and is interested in building on the success of the program,” Timmons said. “Something we are going to discuss for the future is having recycling bins within the stadium.
The effort to reduce waste at OSU tailgates started small and built momentum throughout the football season. Timmons hopes awareness and participation continue to grow.
“We had only two girls during the first game and had about 10 volunteers by homecoming and 15 for the last games,” Timmons said. “Next year we hope to get a lot more volunteers and will be working hard to try to better educate tailgaters on looking for the bags for recyclables and using them only for plastic bottles and aluminum cans.
“The tailgaters are the ones who really make it happen,” she said.
In addition to Timmons, Oklahoma’s 2007 “Recycling Heroes” included Brian Figgins of Mustang, Individual Recycler of the Year; Norman Mayor Cindy Rosenthal, Community Recyler of the Year; State Sen. Susan Paddack, Legislator of the Year; and Bank of Oklahoma Technology Center, Corporate Recycle of the Year.
City of Tulsa solid waste manager Frank Erwin Norman received the Lifetime Achievement Award.