The RecycleMania numbers are in, the victor has been named, and this year it is the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
This year, the Volunteers recycled more material than the Gators—more than one pound more per person. On average, one Vol recycled 10.94 pounds per person during the eight-week competition compared to the University of Florida’s 9.91 pounds per person.
During RecycleMania, more than 630 college and university recycling programs representing six million students and more than 1.5 million staff and faculty competed to see who can recycle more. This year UT Knoxville’s recycling program took on Florida.
Environmental Coordinator Jay Price attributes the campus’s success to events such as the Paper Purge Party and Recyclympics, a full-time Americorps staff member, better collection equipment such as a new recycling truck, and those committed to the cause—and a little competition.
“The UT Recycling staff was really focused on beating Florida. They really went the extra mile to get every last piece of paper or cardboard or each and every bottle and can,” said Price. “Also, faculty and staff took the time to clean out their offices and recycle their old, unwanted paper.”
The Vols also beat their performance in the 2010 competition in which they recycled 9.17 pounds of material per capita—a 19 percent improvement.
Even though the competition is over, Price encourages everyone to take five minutes to look through old files, catalogs, and magazines and put any you don’t need in the blue recycling bin at your desk, classroom, or nearby hallway.
He also encourages students to submit designs for their new recycling truck by May 1st. Details can be found here.
For more information about RecycleMania and the UT Knoxville recycling program, visit www.recycle.utk.edu.