RecycleMania 2005 wrapped up Saturday with Ohio University finishing in fifth place out of 34 schools, falling behind Bowling Green, which came in third and Miami University, which won.
The annual competition, which began in 2001 between only Miami and OU, included 49 universities nationwide vying for either or both of two titles: The school that gathers the most recyclables per student and the school with the highest percentage of trash that is recycled.
This year, OU recycled 55.61 pounds per student. Last year, OU came in third place, recycling 44.02 pounds per student. In 2003, OU placed fifth, and second in 2001 and 2002. The competition measures only recyclables from on-campus buildings and sites.
Among Ohio schools, OU is the only one that participated in both competitions, ending in tenth place out of 29 schools with 27.72 percent of trash recycled.
Looking at the final score
the fact is we are in the top of the pack in terms of schools for the first competition said Ed Newman, refuse and recycling manager at OU.
During the 10-week period, OU collected about 10 more pounds per person than last year, Newman said. In terms of students in residence halls, that is roughly 35 tons more in recycled material.
Adopt-A-Game, a recycling program instituted at OU basketball games last year, generated only a small portion of OU's totals for 2005. Bottles and paper programs were among the lightweight but voluminous materials.
Newman said other factors contributing to this year's improvement included Sib's Weekend and nice weather.
Cardboard is the biggest single material that contributed to OU's recyclables, followed closely by newspapers, magazines and glass.
Though students and faculty received two e-mails throughout the course of RecycleMania 2005, some students remained unaware of the competition.
I've never heard of it said Drue Docie, a junior international women's studies major. However, when she is on campus, Docie utilizes plastic and glass receptacles provided by OU to recycle.
Florian Hemmann, a senior psychology major, became aware of the competition only in its last week. He recycles at home, but as far as participating in RecycleMania, Hemmann suggests the university targets off-campus students as well. More exposure is always good
he said.
Newman said that he is impressed by OU's performance this year and hopes for improvement next year in terms of both OU and involving even more schools across the country.
The altruistic reasons like saving the planet are not what people necessarily relate to he said. The competitive nature plays into it.
Other schools that finished in the top five were the University of Oregon in second place with 66.72 pounds per student and Oregon State University in fourth place with 58.02 pounds. A comprehensive record of the results can be found at the RecycleMania Web site: www.recyclemaniacs.com
I can see this thing getting crazy
Newman said. Getting masses of people involved and communicating is the key. We've got our work cut out for us.
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Anna Maria Georgalis
