Meet Malyce, The G4 Coordinator | Sustainable Campus

This month we are highlighting different student sustainability leaders as part of Campus Sustainability month. Meet Malyce! Malyce is a sophomore studying teaching and environmental science. Malyce is the current Garnet and Gold Goes Green Coordinator and has been heavily involved since her first year.

What first inspired you to get involved with G4?

When I enrolled in FSU, I knew I wanted to dive headfirst into community and campus involvement, with a central focus on joining environmental groups. As I was walking on campus one day, a G4 flyer caught my eye. I took a picture of it, emailed G4 Coordinator Fernando about my interest in volunteering, and from that point on, I hardly missed an event. I truly loved seeing how positive people were towards environmental efforts and how much waste we were able to divert from the landfill.

What drives your passion for recycling and sustainability?

Coming from a rural area and growing up surrounded by woods and wildlife, I appreciate and care deeply for nature. And when I'm walking along a creek and see a plastic bottle, it is quite infuriating, especially when compounded with the knowledge that it will never decompose within my lifetime and will likely end up in the ocean, harming the ecosystem. Thus, although recycling is not without it's quirks, I am passionate about it in general because for every bottle or can recycled, that's one less piece of trash in the landfill or in nature, one less piece of trash to do harm to an ecosystem, one less piece of trash gone to waste and immediately replaced by newly produced resources. I care about sustainability in general because I truly believe it is our duty to care for the world in which we live, to take no more than we give and to conserve that which we have.

What do you wish students knew about recycling?

I wish students knew that recycling, though sometimes a bit perplexing, really isn't as hard as it's made out to be. If new to recycling, start off small and simple. Recycle plastic bottles and aluminum and tin cans. Once comfortable with that, start looking into what else your area can recycle, and just build up from there. Any bit of proper recycling is progress, so really, if all you recycle is bottles and cans, then that's great! But it's also important to properly recycle. So many times, people will think because something's plastic then it's recyclable, but that's not quite how it works, unfortunately. So do your research.

How do you plan to expand G4?

I have started the G4 Ambassador Program that the former coordinator proposed, and I am hoping that, with these ambassadors, G4 can expand in many ways. For instance, I intend to implement assessments and fun yet informative tabling activities during each event. I am also beginning a pilot run on recycling foam (Styrofoam) and plastic bags during G4 events so as to even further decrease the amount of waste being sent to landfills. Additionally, I do hope to, at some point, reach out to other sports, such as soccer and volleyball.

Can you tell us more about the Ambassador program?

The ambassador program, initially proposed by former G4 Coordinator Fernando, is a new program for which FSU students who care about environmental improvement can become more involved with G4. In doing so, they will have the opportunity to learn about recycling and sustainability while gaining valuable leadership and professional skills.

What's your number #1 sustainable gameday tip?

Try. Try to make an effort. You don't have to be completely zero-waste when you're tailgating or watching the game. But try your best to do what you can. If that means just being sure to park next to a recycling bin or bringing a recycling and a trash bag for tailgating, then do it! If it means not buying anything with plastic at concessions, do it! Any and all efforts are greatly appreciated and truly do make an impact.

Garnet & Gold Goes Green (G4) is a gameday recycling program with FSU Sustainable Campus. G4 volunteers act as the friendly face of recycling to the thousands of fans who attend FSU football games each year. Each season, the Garnet & Gold Goes Green recycling program continues to increase recycling efforts in and around the Doak S. Campbell Stadium. In the past 12 seasons, G4 has collected over 200 TONS of recyclable material.

All G4 hours count as service hours on your ServScript form! Free shirt! Free food! Meet fellow Seminole fans! Participants are asked to arrive at the stadium 2.5 hours before the start of the game and stay for a little while after kickoff (we collect so much more material during thatf time).

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