It was a marathon of trash, with the winners staggering across the finish line, separated by mere 10ths of a pound.
The annual 10-week RecycleMania competition culminated last week, and although the UA placed 102nd out of the 175 schools in its category, the competition was nip-and-tuck among the residence halls on campus.
“”It (the hall-to-hall competition) came down to only a few 10ths of a pound, so we were counting like crazy all day,”” said William Wycoff, eco-rep coordinator at the UA.
Yuma Residence Hall took first place with 26.9 pounds per resident, Wycoff said.
“”The key to winning this year was ‘dorm storms,’ “” said Wycoff, referring to RecycleManiacs who went door-to-door asking residents for their recyclables.
Maricopa Residence Hall finished in second place with 25.2 pounds per resident, and Hopi Residence Hall finished third with 19.8 pounds per resident, Wycoff said.
Overall, the university gathered 13.32 pounds of recycle per participant, according to RecycleMania officials.
The UA collected 81,790 pounds of recycled material this year compared to 75,249 pounds last year, said Debbie Hanson, UA Residence Life project and environmental coordinator.
More than 200 schools participated in RecycleMania this year, making it the largest competition RecycleMania has seen so far, Wycoff said.
“”I was extremely pleased with the participation,”” Hanson said. “”There were a lot of inter-hall competitions.””
Residents at Manzanita-Mohave Residence Hall got to “”pie”” the resident assistants if they reached a goal set on a point system hall coordinators devised, Hanson said.
Manzanita-Mohave reached its goal, and the pies flew.
Other halls had competitions within different wings, she said.
“”RecycleMania is all about competition and rivalry,”” Hanson said. “”It’s about making recycling fun.””
Another part of the competition, called Ink Mania, involved gathering the most empty ink cartridges, he said.
Hopi Residence Hall won Ink Mania by gathering 0.4 cartridges per resident, Wycoff said.
An awards ceremony was held to recognize the winners yesterday.
