Sustainability @ the
University of Rochester

RecycleMania Update

March 2010

RecycleMania is nearing a close, and students and employees across the University community are gearing up for a great final few weeks. So far, the University of Rochester is scoring well, but we need everyone on board for a final push to victory!

In case you don’t remember, RecycleMania is a friendly competition between colleges across the country to raise awareness for recycling and waste reduction.  The entire higher education community of the University counts including, the academic and research portions of the UR Medical Center, Eastman School of Music, and the Memorial Art Gallery.

Students, with the help of Recycling Coordinator Amy Kadrie, organized two events this past Thursday: Mt. Trashmore and Feelin’ Trashy.  Both events served to raise awareness for RecycleMania and the principles at its core. 

Mt. Trashmore is an annual event where student volunteers collect all the trash generated from Wilson Commons, Rush Rhees Library and Frederick Douglas for an entire day and pile it up in front of Wilson Commons for all to see.  This may seem messy, but there’s a purpose to the mountain of trash bags.  Student organizer Andrew Spink (2010) explains: “The point is to make students think about the trash that they produce.  We all need to remember that it doesn’t just go away.” 

The other event, Feelin’ Trashy, was another student initiative led by Grassroots Co-President Edith Hanson.  Students carried with them in a bag all the trash that they produced over the course of the day.  At the end of the day, the participating students gathered at the Community Learning Center to weigh in and discus waste saving ideas. The three persons who had the least amount of trash won a prize.

Both of these initiatives stress reduction of waste.  Though it may seem obvious, reducing the amount of waste you produce is the best way to deal with waste in the hierarchy of the three R’s.  Reuse comes second, then recycling, with disposal being the last option. 

As far as the RecycleMania competition goes, the University of Rochester still needs a final boost to lead us to victory.  Recycling Coordinator Amy Kadrie is “impressed by how well we’re doing, but there is always room for improvement!”  With that in mind, be sure to try and reduce the amount of waste you produce and recycle everything that you can, including paper, cardboard, plastics, bottles and cans!

Results through Week 5 by competition category:

• Grand Champion - ranking 92nd out of 264 at 29.98% cumulative recycling rate (outranking Boston U, Duke, Yale, Carnegie Melon)
• Per Capita Classic - ranking 23rd  out of 343 at 11.48 cumulative pounds per person (outranking John Hopkins, Princeton, Harvard, Notre Dame)
• Gorilla Category - ranking 21st out of 343 at 192,547 cumulative pounds (outranking NC State, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Georgetown, Brown)

—  Targeted Materials:

• Paper - 12th out of 216 at 5.21 cumulative pounds per person (outranking Rutgers, Rice, Temple)
• Cardboard - 30th out of 224 at 3.39 cumulative pounds per person (outranking Duke, Georgetown, Princeton)
• Bottles and Cans – 9th out of 219 at 2.89 cumulative pounds per person (outranking Stanford, Emory, Charleston)
• Food Service Organics – 80th out of 98 at 0.32 cumulative pounds per person (outranking Clemson, California State, Houston)

To see the full listing of mid-point rankings, visit: http://recyclemaniacs.org/Index.htm.