RecycleMania 2014 goal is 100,000 lbs.

Recyclemania

Let's get ready to recycle!

As the spring semester kicks off, so does the 2014 RecycleMania. Radford University is again participating in the annual nationwide challenge that ignites classic college rivalries and rallies students, faculty and staff to increase campus recycling rates.

RecycleMania is a friendly competition among college and university recycling programs in North America and Canada and a benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities.

RecycleMania begins Jan. 19 and ends March 29. The first two weeks are preseason weeks aimed at promoting the event. The first week of competition begins Feb. 2. Final results will be announced April 11.

Winning schools receive an award made out of recyclable materials and win the right to host a special traveling trophy for the coming year.

Over the 10-week competition period, schools report recycling and trash data which are then ranked according to which school collects 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.

With each week's reports and rankings, participating schools watch how their results fluctuate against other schools and use this to rally their campus communities to reduce and recycle more.

RU's RecycleMania goal is to collect 100,000 pounds of recyclable materials (mixed paper, mixed containers and cardboard) during the contest, said RU Recycling Coordinator Pavan Muddanna.

"This can only be achieved through more participation from all the campus users and not discarding any recyclables into trash stream," Muddanna explained. "We as a university really want to come out strong in this year's performance compared to our previous years and this will take everyone's efforts in achieving it."

Visit the RU Recycling website throughout the competition to track the university's progress.

Jan 15, 2014