Shakers are a staple of the Beaver Stadium gameday experience.

Whether they’re helping create the rhythmic pulse of the student section as the Blue Band takes the field or are stretched out as the theme from The Lion King plays, the shakers are a gameday tradition that’s become as tethered to Penn State football as the drum major flip.

When Beaver Stadium quiets down after any given game, though, the props can be found on the bleachers of the student section, throughout the stadium concourse, and along Curtin Road outside of the stadium.

This year, senior waste reduction intern Michael Spinelli and senior sustainability engagement intern Ashley Currey are launching a new program to collect and recycle the shakers to further promote sustainability on campus.

Spinelli and Currey came up with the idea at the beginning of their internships when they were charged with brainstorming initiatives to help reduce waste at Beaver Stadium and the surrounding tailgate lots.

“We both knew that shakers were a great place to start because they’re everywhere on gameday,” Spinelli said. “Even Athletics told us that they find the shakers in the rafters months after the last game.”

Because eliminating shakers at a few games throughout the season wasn’t an option, the duo worked with the Blue and White Society and the Alumni Association to come up with a plan to collect, sort, and recycle the shakers.

To collect the shakers, Spinelli and Currey debuted collection outlets at Gate A where students could leave their shakers on the way out of the stadium. The shaker collection units look similar to other trash and recycling bins around Beaver Stadium and even though they’re labeled, contamination happens. To keep the bins to just shakers, Spinelli and Currey patrol the collection area during the game to make sure nothing else makes its way into the bags.

“If someone throws one beer can in there, it can ruin all the shakers,” Currey said. “We really want to catch that early.”

After all the fans leave Beaver Stadium, the bags are collected and prepared for Spinelli and Currey to sort. The pair empties the bags and if a shaker is still in good condition, it’s reused. If not, it’s put on a pile for the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority, which has the special recycling equipment needed to recycle the out-of-commission shaker.

While the duo is still sorting through the shakers from the game against Illinois, they estimate they collected over 5,000 shakers through the first two games.

“We’re hoping to get some extra support but for now, it’s just us,” Spinelli said. “We really wanted to be able to do this, so we decided we’d do whatever it takes.”

Spinelli and Currey collected around 1,100 shakers after the home opener against Bowling Green last month and saw much larger participation after the game against Kent State with around 4,000 shakers collected. They aren’t finished yet, but they believe around the same number were collected after Illinois.

While they said the work is time-consuming, it’s also rewarding. The process has been smooth throughout the first three games, but the pair already has its sights set on the White Out, as they know that collection will be a whole different animal.

As Penn State heads toward its goal of reducing waste and becoming more sustainable, Spinelli and Currey also met with staff from Michigan and Ohio State, two universities with net-zero stadiums, to make sure the shakers can continue to be a presence on gameday.

Through the first three games, Currey believed the initiative has spread, and she’s happy to give every student a chance to participate in being more environmentally friendly by simply depositing a shaker in the correct bin.

Both Spinelli and Currey want a plan in place after they graduate to help the shakers become less of a burden on waste reduction. So far, the pair is seeing results and believes the shaker will remain a fixture of Beaver Stadium.

“So many students over the years have talked about the shakers, and many people are passionate about them, but it’s important to educate and inspire people, too,” Currey said. “It’s really inspirational to see the student engagement, and that can affect people all the way up the ladder.”