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.
RecycleMania Administration
The
RecycleMania Competition is a project of the College and University
Recycling Council (CURC) governed by an steering committee comprised of
six individuals. These steering committee members are responsible for
setting the rules and structure of the competition, as well as looking
after its long term strategic planning. Committee members are typically
professionals involved with waste reduction and sustainability issues
on college campuses. The current steering committee includes Stacy
Wheeler, University of North Florida; Deb Hanson, University of
Arizona; Jack Debell, University of Colorado, Boulder; Rob Gogan,
Harvard University; Ed Newman, Ohio University; Bill Rudy, Brigham
Young University. The steering committee is organized under the RecycleMania
Charter.
Staff
administration for RecycleMania is provided by the National Recycling
Coalition (NRC). The NRC is a national, non-profit advocacy group with
members that span all aspects of waste reduction, reuse and recycling
in North America. NRC’s objective is to eliminate waste and
promote sustainable economies though advancing sound management
practices for raw materials in North America. NRC works with its
members and partners to sponsor programs and stakeholder forums that
provide tools and nurture solutions for the recycling industry. For
more information about the NRC please visit http://www.nrc-recycle.org.
Financial
and logistical support is generously provided by The Coca Cola Company.
Learn more about Coca Cola’s environmental programs at: http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/environment.html
College and University Recycling Council (CURC)
As
a technical council of the National Recycling Coalition, CURC provides
networking opportunities and technical resources to its membership of
professional recycling and solid waste managers. In addition to the
RecycleMania competition, CURC provides member resources including
web-based technical manuals and white papers, annual workshop and
campus recycling tour in conjunction with the NRC conference, an
ongoing webinar series and an information exchange listserv. Learn more
about CURC at http://nrc-recycle.org/curc.aspx
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.
Questions?
If
you have questions, please contact the RecycleMania Helpline at (843)
278-7686 or recyclemania@nrc-recycle.org.