Miami Dade College North Campus wants to build the biggest aluminum ball in the world.

With the Get the Ball Rolling Initiative, MDC wants to spread awareness about recycling.

The idea is part of the Greenway Campaign, a college-wide effort to promote environmental sustainability through a wide variety of projects, including recycling bins and a student speaker series.

To initiate and promote these projects, MDC North Campus President Dr. Jose A. Vicente designated a Green Team, which came up with the recycling idea. They made a flexible eight-foot-tall wire ball that will travel across all eight MDC campuses to be filled by cans and aluminum foil for recycling.

``To me, it's to get moving: let's start doing what we can,'' said Wilson Georges, director of campus services at MDC and co-chairman of the Green Team. ``To others, it may symbolize the world, like `let's give back to the world and be more conscious of what we are taking out.' ''

The Green Team is made up of faculty from across disciplines, staff and students interested in making a change in the environment. Included in the team is Kristina Menendez, a sophomore business major, who said during the summer she watched a documentary on global warming that changed her view on recycling.

``That one impacted me a lot because it talked about the trash in the middle of the ocean and animals getting hurt and I was like, `Wow, this is serious,' '' Menendez said. ``So if I can contribute, sign me up and I'll do whatever I can.''

To collect the cans, the Green Team set up bins all over the campus and placed them strategically near vending machines, offices and the cafeteria.

``We are trying to make it as convenient as possible for the users, because, let's face it, if I have to walk really far to recycle something, I'm more inclined to throw it in the trash,'' Georges said.

For Diane Sloan, a speech professor and co-chairwoman of the Green Team, the project had to be as big as the goals they were trying to accomplish.

``We are making Herculean efforts to get everyone involved in recycling because it's so important for our environment,'' Sloan said.

To achieve those goals, Sloan said they would be doing balls for cartons, plastic and paper as well.

``The really cool part about it is that once we decided we could do this kind of thing, there was no stopping,'' Sloan said.

To bring attention to the campaign, organizers applied to the Guinness Book of World Records last week.

``If we don't get it for the aluminum ball, we'll try it for the other materials again,'' Sloan said.

The team had to consult two architecture professors to design the approximately 268-cubic foot ball. Sloan said the idea was to make it as loud as possible. So they built a three-foot high prototype.

``I could hear the clatter of the aluminum in it,'' Sloan said. ``We said that has got to roll because then students can roll it and make this clamoring and bring attention to it.''

So far, Sloan thinks the project has been successful. She said a sociology professor stopped her in the hallway last week to tell her his students were really into the project.

``He said, `I put down my soda can and it's not even empty and my students say: hey, are you going to put that in the recyclables bin?' '' Sloan said.

Bridgette Crespo, a sophomore international relations major, said the project also brings together everyone for a common goal, including her.

``It's not just a page on the Internet I can research on, but something I do myself,'' said Crespo, adding she sets up tables around the campus to explain the project and goes to classes to announce it.

Julia Martinez, a sophomore civil engineering major, said she was excited to be involved with the project because it's students motivating students to recycle.

``They won't feel `Oh, [professors] are telling us this.' No, it is our fellow students,'' Martinez said.