UA students living in campus residence halls made a recycling dash for the finish line as Recycle Mania, a 10-week nationwide competition, ended on a successful note.

Recycle, reduce and reuse were the main themes stressed throughout the event, as 21 UA residence halls and thousands of students had a friendly competition with each other.

Yavapai Residence Hall disposed the competitors and received first prize, a $1,000 check for new recycling bins, while Navajo-Pinal Student Dormitories weighed in at second place.

Yavapai student residents reacted well to the competition and more recycling awareness was created throughout the dormitory, said Courtney Johnson, a UA student and Yavapai’s eco-representative.

“”We let everyone know that it was the last week (of competition) and that they really needed to recycle,”” Johnson said. “”The week before I think we had fallen behind a little bit; it just kind of made (the residents) all the more competitive.””

The purpose of Recycle Mania is to promote environmental and recycling awareness that will foster lifelong recycling habits, said Jessica Schluederberg, the Residence Life recycling coordinator.

“”Recycle Mania was a good incentive for people to recycle more,”” said Darshit Valia, Navajo-Pinal’s eco-representative. “”It’s really important for us to reach the students first to get them to start recycling and being more responsible.””

Schluederberg said that each dormitory on campus did a good job of competing, and the halls that recycled more than 15 pounds per resident did an excellent job.

On a national scale, the UA competed with more than 85 colleges and universities to see who could collect the largest amount of acceptable recyclables per person.

The UA placed 55th with nearly 17 pounds of recyclables per person. Oregon State University took first prize with more than 90 pounds of recyclables per person.

Arizona State University once again flexed its Recycle Mania muscle with another win against the UA by taking 39th place with more than 23 pounds of recyclables per person.

Arizona-Sonora Residence Hall finished the competition ahead of Coronado Residence Hall, the campus’ largest dorm, with more than 6 pounds of recyclables per person.

The top 5 recycling dorms were: Yavapai with 58 pounds of recycled material per resident, Navajo-Pinal with 33 pounds, Villa del Puente Residence Hall with 27 pounds, Hopi Lodge Residence Hall with 25 pounds and Coconino Residence Hall with 20 pounds.

“”It was a lot of hard work, but I think Recycle Mania teaches the UA community to be more responsible,”” Valia said. “”Overall, it helps the community to realize they can make a difference.””