The Recycling Center needs uncrushed aluminum cans to get NIU in the Guiness Book of World Records, said the center’s assistant director.

Amanda Rutter, recycling center assistant director, said the center is sponsoring “Cans across Campus,” which will string together thousands of uncrushed aluminum cans from DuSable to the Visual Arts Building.

“There is no existing record for this sort of thing, so we’re hoping to get the Guiness people out for it,” Rutter said.

utter said the event is designed “to illustrate the magnitude of the problem we have with unrecycled cans.”

Recycling Center Director Dave Broustis said more than 21,000 cans are distributed through the vending machines at NIU every week.

The number of cans necessary to construct a chain between DuSable and the art building would be comparatively small, Broustis said.

“The chain would probably use one-fifth the number of cans that go through the vending machines here in just one week, about one day’s worth actually,” he said.

John Lyons, recycling center site coordinator, said the event will be held the first day of Earth Week, April 16. Earth Week is sponsored by the Student Environmental Action Committee to promote environmental awareness.

Lyons said the chain is a graphic way to display how many aluminum cans are wasted at NIU.

“A lot of cans people use on campus just get inadvertently thrown away, the chain will show people that they are throwing away miles and miles of valuable aluminum,” he said.

Broustis said the Recycling Center needs uncrushed aluminum cans and volunteers to help the event run smoothly.