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.
Where and what can we recycle?
Please place all paper and plastics in the nearest recycle center if the recyclables were produced on campus for other recyclable items (TV’s and computer monitors), please contact Facilities Services for pick up or directions on where to drop off the items.
Who is monitoring this?
Facilities Services, you can contact them at 972-238-3793.
Who will emptying and checking the bins?
Richland’s Custodial Services
What do we need to do to start this program in our building?
All offices and workstations should have a gray recycle container, if not please call Facilities Services at 972-238-6170 to obtain one. For example, two recycle stations have been placed in Thunderduck Hall (one is by T-182D and the other near T-200D in the CE lounge). All classrooms have a paper and plastic/cans recycle container.
Grand Champion – Competition Division
Schools participating in both the Per Capita Classic and the Waste Minimization competitions are eligible to become the Grand Champion of RecycleMania. The Grand Champion will be the school that, based on their combined results, demonstrates the greatest achievement in both source reduction and recycling. Richland is currently ranked fourth, with a cumulative recycling rate of 23.24%.
Per Capita Classic – Competition Division
In this competition schools are competing to see which can collect the largest amount of acceptable recyclables per person. In this competition, Richland is ranked fifth with a cumulative recyclables pounds per person rate of 2.57%.
Gorilla Prize – Competition Division
In this competition schools are competing to see which can collect the highest gross tonnage of recyclables, regardless of campus population. Richland is currently in the top 10 for the Gorilla Prize.
Targeted Material – Paper – Competition Division
In this competition schools are competing to see which can recycle the largest amount of paper per person. Richland is ranked second in this division with 2.26 cumulative paper pounds per person.
Targeted Material – Bottles and Cans – Competition Division
In this competition schools are competing to see which can recycle the largest amount of bottles and cans per person. Richland is ranked fifth in this division.
Keep up the good work!
*All rankings are for the state of Texas
One week into the Recylcemania competition, Richland is in second place! Our Cumulative Recycling rate is 72.17% compared to the The University of Tennessee-Martin which is at 72.77%.
You can view the results at the Recyclemania website.
WHAT? RecycleMania is a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities in their campus communities.
WHO? Richland will be competing against other colleges and universities nationwide.
WHEN? The competition extends from January 20 to March 28, 2009.
WHY? Colleges and universities are small cities that consume large amounts of resources and generate much solid waste. RecycleMania provides a tool for campus recycling coordinators, student green teams, and facility services professionals to engage their campus community in recycling and waste reduction in a fun and friendly way. Past surveys have indicated 80% of participating schools experienced a noticeable increase in recycling collection during the competition.
HOW? All Richland buildings will compete against each other to see how much waste can be reduced and how much recycle material can be increased. Occupants of the winning building will receive Richland T-shirts!
