In addition to Humboldt State, hundreds of schools representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada will compete in nine categories to see who recycles the most on a per capita basis, who produces the least amount of waste and who recycles the largest percentage of their overall waste stream.
“Our main goal is to use this as a learning experience to educate people about thinking before they throw something in the trash,” says Molly Gilmore, an Environmental Studies major and intern with HSU’s Waste Reduction & Resource Awareness Program, which is coordinating HSU’s participation.
“The competition is about how universities can prove they’re the most eco-conscious school. Even better is informing the community about how to be more efficient with resources,” adds Gilmore.
The Office of Sustainability will submit weight data for paper, cardboard, cans and bottles, food waste, electronic waste, and general trash each week.
In the 2016 competition, 350 schools collected a total of 79.3 million pounds of recyclables and food waste, which reduced greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 122,000 tons.
Program management for the 2017 RecycleMania Tournament is provided by the national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful. A complete list of participants can be found at recyclemaniacs.org.
For more information, about HSU’s RecycleMania program, visit the Recyclemania website.