Despite losing 24-14 in a surprising loss to Ohio, Penn Staters broke a record at Beaver Stadium. Even though Beaver Stadium did not come close to breaking a record of attendees, tailgaters and fans were able to break a record for recycling at the game with the help of Students Taking Action To Encourage Recycling (STATERs.)

The students in STATERs hand out recycling bags to tailgaters in order to encourage them to recycle at every game. The student-tailgater interaction is intended to increase recycling, in order to save time and effort for the tailgaters from getting the recycling displays themselves.

In all, 4,356 bags were collected from the game, which is almost triple the average of 1,500 bags collected per game. The recycling efforts not only help save the environment but also time and money from the workers whose responsibility it is to clean up the 100 acres surrounding the stadium after games.

“Thanks to the STATERs’ efforts and great cooperation from Penn State fans, the new record demonstrates the University’s commitment to sustainability and good citizenship,” said Paul Ruskin to Penn State Live. “This not only keeps the grounds looking spiffy, but also reduces clean-up time from days to hours — in this case, the entire post-game clean-up operation was completed in three-and-a-half hours. The STATERs proved that doing the right thing for the environment can also be labor-saving and fun.”

All of the proceeds from the recycling efforts are donated to the Centre County United Way.

“Beaver Stadium Recycling is off to a winning season,” said Ruskin. “In fact, you might say they already have it in the bag.”

Oh, you sly dog Mr. Ruskin.