Sunday February 3rd marked the beginning of RecycleMania 2013. RecycleMania is a friendly eight week recycling competition that involves colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. On campus, there is a Residential Hall competition, as well as a school wide competition against the other schools. The competition will run through March 30th.

Items counted in this competition include electronics, office paper, magazines, aluminum, and plastics. At the close of each week, UT submits the amount of collected recycling and we are then ranked in various categories, such as who recycles the most and who has the highest recycling per capita. The winning schools are showcased in a national press release and given an award that’s made out of 100% recyclable materials. UT’s winning hall also gets a prize!
The first RecycleMania took place in 2001 and was between Ohio University and Miami University. In 2012, the number of competing schools shot up from two to about 630; that’s a lot of recycling! UT’s first event was held in 2010.

Caroline Beck, UT’s RecycleMania intern is working with Residence Life, Athletics, and Marketing to make RM successful. She is also working with student organizations including Student Government, Medical Student Council, and Resident Student Association to put on recycling related events.
In last year’s Residential Hall competition, the goal was to see which hall could recycle more. In order to even the playing field between large and small halls, the goal this year is to see which hall can recycle the most per resident. Last year’s results were as follows:

1st Place – Ottawa East/West
2nd Place – Carter East/West
3rd Place – Parks Towers
4th Place – The Crossings
5th Place – A House
6th Place – I House
7th Place – MacKinnon
8th Place – The Quad
9th Place – Greek Village

Over 230,000 pounds of recyclable materials were recycled last year! Let’s beat it this year!

Tags: competition, recycle, RecycleMania, SEED Initiative, sustainability

Brooke Mason is the Interim Sustainability Specialist for The University of Toledo. A 2012 Bowling Green State University graduate with a degree in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management, Brooke is obsessive about environmental sustainability. In her position, she works on initiatives ranging from energy conservation, to recycling, to transportation, and much more. She is passionate about working with and educating students about the topic of sustainability. Everyday Brooke works to ensure the current generation can meet their need without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. In her spare time, she loves reading novels, oil painting, and exploring the outdoors.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2013 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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