UA RecycleMania 2007 kicks off tomorrow, bringing services from all over campus to the UA Mall in hopes of inspiring students to take care of the environment.
RecycleMania is a national recycling competition between colleges and universities in the U.S. and has over 200 participating schools this year, including Arizona State University and Pima Community College, said Debbie Hanson, project and environmental coordinator for Residence Life.
“”We just want the residents to recycle,”” Hanson said.
The competition awards prizes for schools with the least amount of total trash and the greatest amount of recycled items per person.
Hanson said the UA recycled 96,000 pounds during RecycleMania last year, and she hopes students will recycle more this year.
To help the competition along, Residence Life has created a contest between UA residence halls to gather the most pounds of recycled materials per person.
The residence hall that
What to recycle
Paper
? Boxboard
? Catalogs
? Hard and softbound books
? Junk mail
? Magazines
? Newspapers
? Office paper (all colors)
? Phone books
Containers
? No. 1 through No. 7 plastic (e.g.: soda, water, juice, beer and laundry detergent bottles)
? Aluminum cans
? Glass
? Steel cans
Cardboard
? Baled and unbaled cardboard boxes
wins the competition will get a permanent set of recycle bins for the hall or $1,000 cash if the hall already has the bins, Hanson said.
Last year, Yavapai Residence Hall won the UA recycling competition with about 58 pounds per resident within the 10-week period, Hanson said.
Manzanita-Mohave Residence Hall students are so eager to get into the RecycleMania spirit, they have created their own competition between the Manzanita side of the hall and the Mohave side, said hall director Kathy Outlaw. Outlaw said she hopes the extra competition will make students more competitive against other halls.
“”I would love for Manzi-Mo to win,”” she said.
However, the real competition is for the RecycleMania trophy and bragging rights. All participating universities and colleges must announce the winners in their school newspaper or other campus media.
RecycleMania began in 2001 between Miami University and Ohio University. Participation grew every year and the competition now includes several categories of recycling contests, according to a press release.
Last year, the 93 schools that competed in RecycleMania gathered 18.6 million recycled pounds, Hanson said.
“”I can’t even imagine how much we will recycle with 200 schools participating,”” Hanson said.
UA participation in RecycleMania falls under the supervision of Residence Life’s Eco Board, a group of representatives from each hall who attend monthly meetings. This group brings monthly speakers to the UA, educates students on recycling and directs the recycling program on a volunteer basis, Hanson said.
Friday’s event begins at 11 a.m. and will include a free raffle ticket drawing for prizes from local vendors, information on RecycleMania and a performance by rock, rhythm and blues band, Statesboro, to pump up participants, Hanson said.
The Residence Life recycling office has set up a recycling pledge for hall residents to sign at the kick-off event. Each resident who signs will receive a blue and green recycling awareness bracelet, she said.
