'EcoKat' Kansas State University's Environmental Mascot Gets Mixed Reaction

How do you get people to recycle? It is a quandary that we, as a nation, have yet to figure out.

In an effort to combat this age old problem, this August, Kansas State University tried to rally their community to be more ecologically conscious by inventing a mascot called "Ecokat." Ostensibly, she is a sort of super-hero that helps you recycle? In K-State's words she is a "crusader of conservation and fanatic of fluorescents."

Suffice it to say, this is not going well. Much of the publicity about EcoKat has been mocking, especially on twitter, where it is one of Kansas City's top trending topics. A youtube video featuring Ecokat already has 152 dislikes and only 7 likes.

The Kansas CIty-Star has more:

For every tweet in defense of EcoKat are dozens more mocking the mousy mascot. A sampling: “#EcoKat makes me want to leave my porch light on 24hours and drive two blocks to the gas station for a pack of gum”; “In honor of #EcoKat, I will separate my plastics, glass and aluminum from one another... then put them in the trash anyways”; and “Pretty sure I have my halloween costume figured out this year. Thanks, #ecokat.”

For our part, we have to commend Kansas State for trying to get people to recycle. Talk about giving the old college try! What do you think of Ecokat? Cool or the worst?

Comments

[Bill Baugh]

12:03 PM on 09/14/2011

thanks for post.

[mad world]

10:38 AM on 09/05/2011

Stop picking on EcoKat and promise to recycle, guys. That Sean guy is gonna have a stroke.

[Reikoku Jaken]

02:24 AM on 09/05/2011

Hold on. State college students acting like spoiled nimrods? Who would have thought.

[pocketspy]

11:49 PM on 09/03/2011

I liked the fact the she had Glen Beck's e2 logo for education on her jersey. LOL

[Tim Kunk]

09:41 AM on 09/02/2011

I'd share a litter box with her. ; )

[lel737]

09:29 AM on 09/02/2011

We need a drill for oil mascot.

[fancynancy1984]

11:29 AM on 09/01/2011

The T-shirt manufacturers of Lawrence KS would like to thank Kstate for Eco-Cat.

[wanderthewest]

11:22 AM on 09/01/2011

A more appropriat­e mascot in Kansas would be someone on horseback herding cattle (Kansas citizens) toward a meat packing plant or giant industrial feed lot (the recycling bin) or maybe someone with a gun threatenin­g people to recycle on penalty of death...or maybe someone posing as God telling people to recycle.

[wanderthewest]

11:03 AM on 09/01/2011

I am a graduate student at Kansas State, and I was at a coffee shop near campus this morning where a group of K-State admin folks were meeting. As they closed the doors to the conference room, I could hear them linking ecokat to Al Gore and generally mocking the idea of promoting energy efficiency in the context of global warming.

This is just what Kansas is like. Of course the majority of people think it's stupid, because they drive their diesel trucks with "Eat Beef" plates to campus from two blocks away, dispose of their beer cans in their front yards or the street, and generally don't have the decency to be polite in public discourse.

[Sean Tomlinson]

11:16 AM on 09/01/2011

No, most of us (I'm a grad student at KSU too) think EcoKat is embarrassing because it is a ridiculous mascot, not because we dislike "her" message. What would have been the issue of Willie in a green jersey? Why was a new mascot created solely for the purpose of pushing environmentalism, and why was that mascot so ridiculous?

[wanderthewest]

11:21 AM on 09/01/2011

Everyone I have hear has used their next breath to badmouth environmentalism in general. Frankly, Willie is just as stupid.

[fancynancy1984]

11:32 AM on 09/01/2011

As a Jayhakwk, all I have to say is .....(he he he) THANK YOU K-state. This is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time!

[ZoeT]

07:28 PM on 08/31/2011

For people who don't like this mascot, too heavy, too heavy, too heavy by far. Lighten up! This is an adorable, funny and spoofy mascot that people can smile about. I love it!

[fancynancy1984]

01:48 PM on 09/01/2011

And we are laughing!

[Joseph Arechavala]

07:06 PM on 08/31/2011

Why didn't they just recycle Captain Planet???

[Katie Fronczak]

06:27 PM on 08/31/2011

http://www.knox.edu/athletics/about-prairie-fire-athletics.html

just sayin'

[Jordan Willis]

06:14 PM on 08/31/2011

*facepalm*

[Grandma Koolfinger]

05:58 PM on 08/31/2011

I was just getting ready to throw a sack of beer cans in the bushes and then I saw this strange little person with a big head and I said to myself, "Why don't you puts those cans in the aluminum container over there and the paper in the paper bin?"

I can hardly believe this idea gets derisive tweets. I would be curious to know who much the administrators who were responsible for this great idea are being paid. Whatever it is, it's not enough.

[Aldo Rodriguez]

05:50 PM on 08/31/2011

Captain Planet's lawyers have just sent a 'cease and desist' letter.

[RealityBaseCamp]

07:05 PM on 08/31/2011

On recycled paper!