2009 Results Announced

The results are in and congratulations go out to all the colleges and universities that participated this year. 510 schools from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Canada took part in 2009. The 4.7 million students and 1.1 million faculty and staff on these campuses collectively recycled or composted just over 69.4 million pounds of waste over ten weeks. Below are the winners of each category. To see the full rankings, visit the Results page.

Congratulations again to everyone who took part in 2009!

Grand Champion

California State University, San Marcos

Waste Minimization

North Lake College

Stephen K Gaski Per Capita Classic

McNeese State University

Gorilla Prize

Rutgers University

Paper

Stephens College

Corrugated Cardboard

McNeese State University

Bottles & Cans

Kalamazoo College

Food Service Organics

Bard College

Stay Tuned For 2010

With the 2009 competition drawing to a close, the RecycleMania staff and steering committee won't skip a beat as we start planning for next year. Using feedback from participants and our own list of long term development goals, we'll be working on ways to improve and grow RecycleMania during the off season. We welcome your input and the opportunity to keep you up to date as we move forward. If you're not already on our contact list as a 2009 participant, we're happy to add to our 2010 notification update list. Send a quick email to alecc@nrc-recycle.org and place the following text in the subject heading: "2010 RecycleMania Updates - {your institution or organization name}".

RecycleMania Noted In Newsweek and College Guides

As more colleges and universities look to institute sustainable practices on campus, RecycleMania is receiving increased attention as a barometer of a school's efforts. Newsweek included a paragraph on RecycleMania in its August 18, 2008 college issue. RecycleMania is used as factor in the Princeton Review's new 2008 sustainability index of colleges and universities. Kaplan and Peterson's college guides are also referring to RecycleMania to highlight campus greening efforts.

What Is RecycleMania?

RecycleMania is a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities. Over a 10-week period, schools report recycling and trash data which are then ranked according to who collects the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or have the highest recycling rate. With each week’s reports and rankings, participating schools watch how their results fluctuate against other schools and use this to rally their campus communities to reduce and recycle more.

To learn more about the structure of the competition and the various contests, please visit the Rules section.

Overall Goals for RecycleMania

• Have a fair and friendly recycling competition.
• Increase recycling participation by students and staff.
• Heighten awareness of schools' waste management and recycling programs.
• Expand economic opportunities while addressing environmental issues in a positive way.
• Lower waste generated on-campus by reducing, reusing and recycling.
• Organize this event successfully so it can be repeated and possibly expanded to other campuses in the future.

Why Is There a Need for RecycleMania?

Colleges and universities are small cities that consume large amounts of resources and generate much solid waste. Whether a school has an extensive waste reduction program or is just getting basic recycling collections off the ground, experience has shown that all schools have potential to further reduce the amount of resources they consume and dispose of. RecycleMania provides a tool for campus recycling coordinators, student green teams and facility service professionals to engage their campus community in recycling and waste reduction in a fun and friendly way. RecycleMania anticipates that environmental messages cannot always motivate action by themselves and seeks to present waste reduction in terms any college student can appreciate: beating the cross town rival! In the process, participation in the competition familiarizes students with a campus’s environmental programs and hopefully instills in them a life long habit. Past surveys have indicated 80% of participating schools experienced a noticeable increase in recycling collection during the competition.

History of RecycleMania

RecycleMania began in February 2001 when Ed Newman (Ohio University) and Stacy Edmonds Wheeler (Miami University) decided that something had to be done to increase recycling in the residence and dinning halls on their campuses. RecycleMania was born! During this 10-week competition, Miami University and Ohio University went head-to-head to see which school could recycle the most. The first year, Miami University won the competition over Ohio University.

RecycleMania gained momentum in the 2002 and 2003 competitions, approximately doubling participation each year. In 2002 and 2003, Bowling Green State University claimed the title, recycling 52.5 pounds per students for its second victory.

In 2004, 11 new schools joined the competition, raising the total number of participating schools to 17, and Miami University again climbed to the top. In 2004, RecycleMania partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWise program to enhance and expand the competition, and the initiative won the National Recycling Coalition’s Outstanding Recycling Innovation Award.

In the 2005 competition, defending champion Miami University triumphed in the Per Capita competition, while California State University San Marcos won the Recycling Rate contest.

RecycleMania 2006 included 93 colleges and universities from around the country and expanded to include various contests. The 2006 competition saw new contests, including the Grand Champion and Waste Minimization. Cal State San Marcos took the Grand Champion trophy, while Point Loma Nazarene University generated the least amount of waste and wom the Waste Minimization contest. RecycleMania 2006 also saw Oregon State Univeristy win the Per Capita Classic, ousting three-time champion Miami University from the throne.

The 2007 competition saw the number of participants more than double from the past year, with 201 schools battling for RecycleMania glory. For complete results, visit the results page.