Due to her sustainable background, freshman nutrition major Mary-Catherine Stockman wants to make recycling a priority in her residence hall.

As the Eco-Rep for her residence hall, Stockman has been trying to inform students and bring awareness to recycling. According to the Residence Hall Association (RHA), a hall's Eco-Rep is someone appointed by the hall council to promote sustainable practices within the residence hall.

She said she posts random facts about recycling around her residence hall in the hopes that more students will understand the recycling process.

So far, Stockman has only gotten her wing in Milton Daniel to participate in the recycling effort.  She plans for the whole residence hall to participate and turn it into a competition between wings. Milton Daniel resident Paige Weishaar, a freshman interior design major, said she did not know about what Stockman was doing, but would like to participate.

Stockman said she lives a sustainable lifestyle due to how she grew up. She said due to the "small town feel," she was able to live in a more sustainable manner.

The main way Stockman is trying to make her residence hall sustainable is by recycling bottles. About once a week, Stockman sends a text to the residents in her wing instructing them to bring their bottles to a small green bin outside of her room. When everyone has turned in their recyclable bottles or cans, she then takes them over to the Dream Machine in the University Rec Center.

PepsiCo and Waste Management started the Dream Machine Initiative in the hopes of raising the amount of "U.S. beverage container recycling rate from 34 percent to 50 percent." For more information on the Dream Machine Initiative, click here.

Stockman also wants to expand her plan to use the Dream Machine campus-wide, and turn it into a competition between residence halls. Administrative assistant for RHA Michelle Nguyen said that plan is on hold until all residence halls receive a Dream Machine.