The student center revealed its first “dream” recycling machine, a PepsiCo product, in the student center to empower the Kent community to easily recycle cans and bottles.

“Recycling is not made easy in my neighborhood,” said Bryan Heraghty, a multimedia journalism major. “Making recycling easy and even possible at all would increase awareness and attention to recycling.”

The dream recycling machine rests between the Kent Market 1 and the Student Organizations office. Many students struggle to recycle because they have to travel to drop-off centers which may not be possible to do. Each time a can or bottle is recycled, reward points are collected for an individual to earn prizes like free dining or local entertainment.

“We want to encourage people to recycle,” manager of sustainability Melanie Knowles said. “Giving incentives like reward programs and benefiting disabled veterans lives will give us a better way to recycle.”

PepsiCo set a goal of increasing the U.S beverage container-recycling rate to 50 percent by 2018. They have partnered with Recycle for Veterans and Recycle for Nature in their recycling efforts, as recycling at the university can now benefit the lives of disabled veterans that provide training in business management and entrepreneurship.

“A portion of the contributions always goes to the veterans, and there also is an option to donate your points to The Nature Conservancy,” Knowles said.

There are more than 65 colleges participating in PepsiCo’s initiative.

“I have not had to remove any dream machines once they were delivered,” said Nick Cox, a distributor for PepsiCo. “Students get an incentive to contribute and we get to help the environment at the same time.”

Contact Brittany Anderson at [email protected]