Dancers still in good spirits at 8:30 in the morning after 13.5 hours of Dance Marathon 18 on Saturday, February 4. (The Daily Iowan/ Ian Servin)
Dancers scarf down their meals while huddle around tables with no chairs.
But before dancers can head back to the Main Lounge, they must first get past a row of operations committee members.
Dance Marathon partnered with the University of Iowa Office of Sustainability in order to cut back on waste and be more green this year.
Though Dance Marathon has had some sustainability initiatives with past Big Events, UI senior Justene Pluta said sustainability efforts have improved.
“[Dance Marathon] has increased what they’ve been doing this year in terms of sustainability,” Pluta said. “There’s a lot of production involved.”
The sustainability initiative includes separating compost and waste and recyclables. Extra containers are set up in various locations throughout the IMU.
UI freshman Emily Mulvaney said the operations committee is mainly responsible for supporting the initiative that’s “a really big focus” this year.
Mulvaney and Pluta were both separating waste from recyclables in the Nickelodeon family room while interacting with Dance Marathon children.
Back in the River Room, Kristin Tefft and Mengwei Fan are helping sort waste and recyclables during the breakfast hours.
Tefft said volunteers are responsible for sorting items, which had been a problem in the past.
“Before I think we relied more on people doing it themselves but they don’t really always know what goes where,” she said. “This year we have volunteers putting [waste and recyclables] in the right spot.”
Tefft said cups and plates are recyclable, and the only things that would be thrown out are wrappers.
“Most things are recyclable,” she said.
Students were also provided Coldstone at 2 a.m., and Panchero’s at 11 p.m.
