From February to March, Kent State will be competing against universities across the country and Canada in Race to Zero Waste to see who can reduce the most waste. 

The Race to Zero Waste competition was a main point of the Kent Interhall Council meeting on Jan. 31. Leah Graham, the outreach/recycling coordinator from the Office of Sustainability, spoke about what the event is.

Race to Zero Waste encourages schools to recycle, compost and more because plastic pollution and solid waste are a critical threat to health and wildlife, according to their website. 

Over 1,100 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada have participated in the Race to Zero Waste competition, recycling and composting 1.064 billion pounds of waste, according to the website.

Diversion, per capita recycling, food organics and zero waste are the four main categories in Race to Zero Waste, Graham said. The competition organizes the amount of recycling, food organics and trash that are collected each week into these categories.

There are competition categories as well that include Electronics Recycling, GameDay basketball, Race to Zero Waste – One Building Challenge and Case Study Competition, Graham said.

Students can win prizes from different aspects of the event of Race for Zero Waste such as taking part in the hall-to-hall competition and choosing a pledge.

This will be the 14th year the university will compete in the competition. The university won two categories, Zero Waste and Electronics Recycling, in 2021.

“Everyone’s actions on campus contribute to how Kent State does in campus Race to Zero Waste,” Graham said.

The next public KIC meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7 in the Student Governance Chambers.