Its first year in the national RecycleMania competition, Richland College came in 2nd place among Texas institutions and ranked 43rd nationally out of 206 colleges and universities in the Grand Champion division.

During the 10 weeks of competition, Richland recycled 66.6 tons of recyclables and decreased its waste (to the landfill) by 65.3 tons.

Other Texas institutions that competed in the Grand Champion division include Texas A&M University (203rd place), Trinity University (175th place), Rice University (169th place), Northlake College (105th place), University of Houston (72nd place), and the Grand Champion of Texas for 2009: the University of St. Thomas in Houston (21st place).

California State University – San Marcos was the RecycleMania 2009 Grand Champion.

Participating institutions tracked campus recycling and trash data which RecycleMania organizers ranked according to who collected the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or had the highest recycling rate.

RecycleMania started in 2001 as the brainchild of administrators at the Ohio University and Miami University to increase recycling in the residence and dinning halls on their campuses.

The friendly competition sparked huge environmental gains. The total amount of recyclables and organic materials recovered during the 2009 competition added up to 69.4 million pounds, which in turn prevented the release of 88,739 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This reduction in greenhouse gases is equivalent to the annual emissions from 16,187 passenger cars; electricity use of 12,258 homes; or burning of 462 railcars worth of coal.

RecycleMania’s mission of inspiring environmental and social consciousness fits perfectly with Richland’s vision to be best place to learn, teach, and build sustainable local and world community.