U students are returning to the RecycleMania competition with hopes for significant improvement over last year’s placement.
The U first entered RecycleMania, a 10-week recycling competition held on 326 college campuses across the country, in 2007. The competition began Jan. 18, but the National Recycling Coalition, the waste reduction non-profit organization that staffs RecycleMania, considers the first two weeks of the competition as trial weeks to help the colleges get started.
Jessica Scharf Jentzsch, director of the Associated Students of the University of Utah Sustainability Board, is heading the U’s RecycleMania effort this year. Jentzch said the 2008 competition promotion was limited, but the U still ranked 84 out of 163 in paper recycling because the U has a large recycling program already.
“We’re going to amp up promotion this year,” Jentzsch said. Jentzsch thinks that increased promotion of the competition will give students, faculty and staff an opportunity to respond and boost their recycling habits to earn the U a higher ranking, she said.
Brigham Young University started competing in 2003 and has outranked the U during the past two years. BYU competes in the same categories as the U: plastic and cardboard recycling. BYU’s recycling trainer Bill Rudy said BYU recycles approximately 1,300 tons of paper during an entire school year. Rudy estimates that in a 10-week period, BYU recycles more than 400 lbs. of paper.
The number of schools participating in RecycleMania has grown from 11 in 2001 to 480 schools this year8212;326 in the official competition and 154 in the less formal Benchmark division. RecycleMania recycles 58.6 million lbs. of material, including corrugated cardboard, paper, bottles, cans and organics.
The U officially kicks off its participation in RecycleMania at Plazafest II on Jan. 27 in the Union Ballroom from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
For more information on RecycleMania at the U, contact Jentzsch at the ASUU office by calling 581-2788.