After the commencement of the 8-week long competition striving to reduce waste reduction and prompt recycling on school campuses across the country, RecycleMania results are finally in. Although these results are important, the competition also generated effects more difficult to measure, such as the motivation of students, faculty, and staff to make sustainable choices and the promotion of campus awareness about sustainability issues. Succeeding in both tangible results and in encouragement of action and awareness, the University of Rochester was a great contender in RecycleMania, partially due to the various events held on campus in honor of the challenge.
This year, the competition encompassed 4.5 million students who altogether recycled and composted 80.1 Million lbs., preventing 129,411 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from entering the atmosphere. Big congratulations to all of the 2015 RecycleMania category winners who helped contribute to this number. Antioch University Seattle came in 1st place for the category of Grand Champion with a recycling rate of 96.8%, Loyola Marymount University came in 1st for the Per Capita Classic, recycling 73.9 lbs. per person, and finally Rutgers University came in first for the Gorilla Prize category, recycling and composting a total of 2,229,611 lbs.
What do these categories entail? Firstly, the Grand Champion Category determines a school’s recycling rate by looking at the percentage of recycling relative to its overall waste. The Per Capita Classic category calculates the amount of cardboard, paper, cans, and bottles each person recycles. Lastly, the Gorilla Prize category compares schools’ net recycled material despite campus size.
The University did well in many of these categories, coming in 28th out of 207 schools in the Per Capita Classic and averaging 27.4 lbs. of recycling per person. Ranking 32nd out of 308 schools, the University also did well in the Gorilla category recycling and composting a net total of 553,562 lbs., an impressive number considering the University’s relative size. Finally, in the Grand Champion category, the University of Rochester had a 32% recycling rate, ranking 124th out of 232 schools.
In addition to these areas, the University also did extremely well in the four targeted materials categories, which measure the largest amount of recycling per person of specific materials. The University ranked 10th out of 107 in the Paper category, recycling 12 lbs. per capita, 17th out of 118 schools in the Corrugated Cardboard category, recycling 8.2 lbs. per capita, 8th out of 104th in Bottles and Cans, recycling 4.6 lbs. per capita, and 59th out of 147 schools in Food Service Organics composting 5 lbs. per person. This was a large improvement from last year, when the University was ranked 97th in this category, composting 2.98 lbs. per person.
Many of these successes can be attributed to the fun and effective events held by various sustainability related groups on campus in promotion of this competition. From the Basketball GameDay Challenge sponsored by Facilities Team Green, to Mount Trashmore sponsored by student organization Grassroots, to the “Caught Green Handed” challenge sponsored by the EcoReps; this “wide variety of events appealed to different types of people which prompted more participation,” says newest Team Green member, Ciara McGillivray, Class of 2018. Many pictures of these diverse RecycleMania events can be found on on the UR Sustainable Facebook page.
“The highest point for me was the kickoff party,” says Team Green member Leslie Wolf, Class of 2015. “It was very well attended by all of the green groups and it was in the Flag lounge so students passing through Wilson commons saw it, came by and learned about RecycleMania. They got to play games, win prizes, and get in the RecycleMania spirit.”
Thank you to everyone who hosted and participated in these efforts! We hope this success persists after RecycleMania’s close, showcasing the University of Rochester’s commitment to sustainability.
Written by Julie Elliot, Class of 2015