Currently, no campuswide program facilitates pop can and bottle recycling, but a friendly competition could change all that.

Architecture for Humanity Iowa is hosting a competition in which participants will design and build creative and innovative pop bottle receptacles from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday in the Armory. The competition is open to anyone. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top 10 finishers, and the winning receptacles will be used for the remainder of the school year in the Armory. AFH Iowa also hopes to create a plan for a campuswide recycling system using the winning design.

“The purpose of the activity is not to win,” said Adam Nordby, student coordinator for AFH Iowa and senior in architecture. “There are two purposes. One is to get receptacles up and running in the Armory and two is to get people involved and interested in recycling on campus. And the main goal is to start something on campus if we can.”

AFH Iowa is a group that organized this semester on campus for architecture professionals. The group is a branch of the national organization, which focuses on creating architectural and design solutions to social issues or crises.

The idea for the competition and the focus on recycling came about when AFH Iowa wanted to plan a kickoff project for visibility of the group.

“[Recycling] is a sizable problem for us and not out of reach for us to do something about it,” said Jennifer Ross, media correspondent for AFH Iowa and graduate student in architecture.

They kicked off their idea with creating their own pop can and bottle recycling system called the recycling sock.

The sock, which has been located in the College of Design’s atrium since Oct. 25, is already four-and-a-half floors full. There are five floors total in the building. Part of the cash prizes will come from the sock donations.

Ross said she would like to see the winning design be well-designed and interesting to use, like their sock idea.

“It is a great idea,” said Roger Graden, member of ISU Council on Sustainability and architect for facilities planning and management.

“Whatever students can do to raise awareness of sustainability issues on this campus is a good thing.”

Graden said if a final plan was presented to Facilities Planning and Management it would be considered, but that there would be different avenues to getting it campuswide.

The different avenues are the main reason why Iowa State does not have a system in place.

“I think we haven’t had a set program because it takes a number of pieces to have it work,” said Jeri Neal, steering committee chair of the ISU Council on Sustainability and program coordinator in the Leopold Center .

Neal said that includes things such as who picks up the receptacles, how it is managed and how to keep it clean.

“All the pieces have not come together yet,” she said. “I think the students can be a big part of keeping it moving.”

Ross said they are hopeful for a big turnout on Friday. Right now, she said she thinks there are about five or six teams of three to four people participating.

Nordby is not sure if the date will help or hurt the competition, being the Friday before Thanksgiving break.

“It will be a lot of fun though,” he said. “People are going to get creative and it will end up helping the environment.”