Green Campus Initiative brings recycling competition back to campus

Twitter
Facebook

 Email This Post
Reddit
Digg

Tell us what you think!
Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.

The University of Maine joined hundreds of colleges across the country in RecycleMania, a competition that measures how much material a school can recycle while raising awareness about waste reduction and management, on Jan. 27.

The Green Campus Initiative (GCI) is hosting the event and hopes that the 10-week competition will motivate students to recycle. Cody Martel, GCI coordinator, is organizing the event on campus; “We are really trying to get the word out and get people involved.”

RecycleMania has four preliminary competitions and an additional competition that aims to recycle specific materials such as bottles and corrugated cardboard.

The Depot Recycling and Redemption Center will collect materials from dorms and other facilities on campus on a weekly basis and report the amount recycled in pounds.

UMaine competed in RecycleMania last year but did not receive any awards. “We will have posters during the first week of the competition with incitements and Earth-friendly tips,” Martel said. Bins will be made easily accessible in resident halls and other campus facilities. UMaine is one of seven Maine colleges participating in this year’s competition.

RecycleMania began in 2001 when Ed Newman and Stacy Edmonds Wheeler of Ohio University and Miami University, respectively, started a competition between the two universities measuring materials recycled in dorms and dining halls. Miami University beat Ohio University in the 10-week competition. After success of the first competition, colleges across the country joined with the goal of raising awareness on college campuses nationwide.

GCI has already taken steps at UMaine to ensure that materials are recycled. The group coordinates Eco Reps, students who perpetuate student awareness, efforts toward recycling and check that dorms are recycling as much as possible. There are currently four Eco Reps working through GCI.

RecycleMania ends nationwide on April 5. While Martel hopes to win in this year’s competition, he said the main goal is to make recycling a habit at UMaine. “We want to make recycling stay at the University of Maine,” Martel said.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2008, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.