While college students generally associate Solo cups with gameday fun and hazy weekends, they may soon be associating the brand with a more philanthropic and ecologically friendly type of fun.
After being one of the few schools selected to compete by the Solo Cup Company, four UF Public Relations Student Society of America members have put together a team for Go Bare on Campus, a case study competition where students will be competing with other schools across the country to get students to use sustainable products.
The competition, which began in October and will continue through Nov. 21, will attempt to get the most people to pledge on Facebook to “Go Bare,”a play on Solo’s new line of environmentally friendly single-use food service products which includes renewable plates, compostable plates, recyclable cups and compostable cups.
Rachel Raddatz, treasurer of the UF chapter of PRSSA, said she was very excited about the competition when she first heard about it.
“I honestly just wanted to compete,” Raddatz said. “This competition is a great way to get our chapter some national recognition as well as a great way to make $1,000.”
Currently, Ohio Northern University is in first place with 255 pledges while UF’s chapter is in second place with 178 pledges. However, they are confident that they have what it takes to use the most eco-friendly single-use food service products at their school.
Bridget Bartol, UF’s team leader for the Go Bare on Campus by Solo competition, said that she wants to use this competition to inform people about making better life choices when it concerns the environment. She said she believes UF has a very good chance at winning because of its size as well as the networking and campaign skills the people in PRSSA already have.
“We have such a great public relations department and professors who are all very interested in this competition,” Bartol said.
