Coconino Residence Hall is on track to win Recycle Mania, a 10-week campuswide recycling competition that is now in its eighth week.

As of March 10, the top recycling residence halls were Coconino with 3.9 pounds of recycled material per resident, Yavapai with 2.9 pounds and Villa del Puente with 2.4 pounds.

The winner of the campuswide competition will receive $1,000 from Residence Life Recycling, which they can use at their own discretion.

“”I’m so proud of these girls because they are indeed ‘Recycle Maniacs,'”” said Cynnamon Woodberry, Coconino’s eco-representative and a biology freshman. “”We have pretty much picked up recycling as a habit, even before the competition.””

Woodberry said other factors might have also contributed to Coconino’s success.

“”Our banners and the way our dorm is laid (out) may be a factor in our success,”” Woodberry said. “”The recycling bins are practically unavoidable.””

Yavapai and Villa del Puente are less than 2 pounds-per-resident behind Coconino, and the residents are hopeful they can catch up by the end of the competition.

“”We are excited about being in close contention,”” said Courtney Johnson, Yavapai’s eco-steward and hall council president. “”We have been doing really well and have been trying to get students motivated by advertising (Recycle Mania).””

Johnson, a journalism senior, said her hall has been publicizing the competition by making sure students know what is recyclable and by creating more awareness.

In the nationwide competition the UA is ranked among the top-30 schools in the country, but the UA is still falling behind ASU, who recycled their way to victory over the Wildcats in 2005.

“”Better programming and more advertisement has put us in close contention with ASU,”” said Jessica Schluederberg, the Residence Life recycling coordinator. “”As the program has been winding down, I’ve seen a real increase in the amount of recyclables.””

As for the larger residence halls, Coronado Residence Hall finished the sixth week of competition with 0.1 pounds per person recycled and Arizona-Sonora Residence Hall reached 0.4 pounds per person.

“”The problem with the larger dormitories is that when you add up the amount of recyclables and divide it by the number of total residents, you get a very small number,”” Schluederberg said.

Schluederberg said recycling common items, such as aluminum cans, computer paper and plastic bottles is easy and can be a key to winning the competition.

“”Recycle Mania is important because it gets the word out about recycling and also helps the environment,”” Johnson said.