Second Annual Kung-Fu Box-O-Rama
Due to the overwhelming success of last year’s move-in cardboard recycling effort the Office of Campus Sustainability will be hosting its 2nd annual Kung-Fu Box-O-Rama. The purpose of the event is to educate and assist our new freshmen and their families about cardboard recycling on campus. Last year, with help from the Green Dragons, the MSUM Housing Department, as well as student, faculty, and alumni volunteers, the event recycled nearly 3 tons of cardboard! That’s enough cardboard to save 50 trees.
In previous years, unattended cardboard recycling dumpsters became heavily contaminated with loose trash and boxes that didn’t have the trash removed. In some cases, those dumpsters became so contaminated they went straight to the landfill.
Volunteers will decorate the cardboard dumpsters with construction paper to make it pretty obvious which are trash and which are for recycling. On the day of the event volunteers will be stationed at 6 different locations and will be handing out reusable stainless steel water bottles to the students who recycle their boxes properly.
The name Kung-Fu Box-O-Rama comes from a style of breaking down boxes adopted by Sustainability Coordinator Joe Herbst while working in the cardboard-laden food service industry. According to Herbst, “A well-placed Kung-Fu chop allows you to loosen and pull the tape from the bottom of the box for quick flattening. It’s actually pretty fun.”
Volunteers are needed on Tuesday, August 20 from 4-8 p.m. to help decorate, and Wednesday, August 21 from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Anyone interested in volunteering is encouraged to contact Joe Herbst at joe.herbst@mnstate.edu to find out how to sign up for a shift.