RecycleMania

February 9, 2015

Students at Redlands conduct a waste-sorting demonstration to kick off RecycleMania.

The University of Redlands has successfully kicked off the 2015 RecycleMania tournament, a national competition that builds school spirit and encourages waste reduction and recycling on campuses nationwide.

Week 1: UR recycle rate in week one of the competition is 25 percent (recycled from waste we generate.)

The University is one only seven colleges and universities participating from California, and one of 392 schools, including 4.5 million students and 1.1 million faculty and staff, participating in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Through March 29, colleges will face off to see which recycles the most on a per capita basis; which produces the least amount of waste; and which recycles the largest percentage of their overall waste stream.

The University will compete for the third year in a row in the competition division. Schools compete in several weight-based categories that measure recycling and waste reduction per capita, as well as overall campus recycling weights and recycling and composting as a percentage of total waste generated.

Updated rankings published online each Friday allow schools to track their progress and rally to improve their standings against rival colleges.

This year our campus kicked off the competition with a waste-sorting event at Hunsaker Center on Feb. 4. A residence hall competition will continue throughout for eight weeks to see which hall can recycle the most. It doesn't stop there, we have events planned to include the next generation as local students from the city of Redlands participate in lessons on composting and recycling through programs such as Big Buddies and CHAMPS. Later this spring, Outdoor Programs will be taking a trip to clean-up a local beach.

"We are excited about the various groups on campus that are getting involved to improve sustainability efforts within our campus community and the larger Redlands Community." said Jenny Sorenson, associate director of facilities management.