Catawba College is one of 510 colleges and universities participating in RecycleMania 2009, a friendly competition which pits colleges and universities in a nationwide contest to see who can reduce, reuse and recycle the most campus waste.

The competition among recycling programs lasts for 10 weeks each spring. This year, it began January 18th and will conclude March 28th. Schools vie to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or have the highest recycling rate. Schools report measurements on a weekly basis, and can participate in as many competitions as their program can support. The schools that out-compete the others win the grand prize, taking home the RecycleMania trophy.

Colleges and universities choose to participate in one of two divisions, the Competition or Benchmark. The Competition Division houses the traditional competitive rankings based on standard reporting criteria. The Benchmark Division allows schools to unofficially compare themselves with other schools and to promote RecycleMania on campus, without the formal reporting requirements of the competitive ranking. Catawba College is competing this year in the Benchmark Division.

During week 1 of RecycleMania 2009, Catawba recycled 100 pounds of plastics, 190 pounds of glass and 41  pounds of aluminum cans. Each week Catawba's statistics, along with those from other institutions, are posted  online at www.recyclemaniacs.org/results.asp  and also on Catawba's website at www.catawba.edu/recycle.

Catawba's Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling, part of the Facilities Department, is coordinating the  competition on campus.

In addition to Catawba, other schools in North Carolina participating in the competition include Appalachian State University (Benchmark Division), Barton College (Competition Division), Davidson College (Competition Division), Duke University (Competition Division), East Carolina University (Benchmark Division), Elon University (Benchmark Division), Guilford College (Competition Division), Meredith College (Competition Division), North Carolina State University at Raleigh (Competition Division), Peace College (Competition Division), Queens University of Charlotte (Benchmark Division), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Competition Division), University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Benchmark Division), University of North Carolina-Wilmington (Competition Division) and Wilson Community College (Competition Division).

The RecycleMania competition began in the spring of 2001 as a friendly challenge between recycling coordinators at two schools in Ohio, Miami University and Ohio University. From the outset, the competition was meant as a way to get students and staff more excited about participating in recycling efforts. RecycleMania has gained recognition as a barometer of  collegiate sustainability efforts. Beginning in 2008, signatories of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) receive credit for participating in the Waste Minimization category. The Princeton Review and Kaplan college guides both use RecycleMania to indicate college and universities' commitments to sustainability.

The RecycleMania competition is administered by the National Recycling Coalition (NRC), with program development and planning by a steering committee made up of collegiate recycling managers from participating universities. The competition is managed in conjunction with NRC's College and University Recycling Council (CURC), and is made possible with the generous sponsorship support from The Coca-Cola Company and the US Environmental Protection Agency's WasteWise program.

To learn more about RecycleMania, go to www.recyclemaniacs.org.

RELATED CONTENT:

• RecycleMania Competition
• Weekly Results
• Office of Waste Reduction & Recycling