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It's a Repeat for Cal State San Marcos: 2007 RecycleMania Grand Champion

RecycleMania Winners

First Place Finishers

Grand Champion
(Highest overall average recycling rate)
Cal State San Marcos
59.94 percent

Per Capita Classic
(Greatest amount of recyclables collected per person*)
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University
101.12 lbs./person

Waste Minimization
(Least amount of trash generated per person*)
University of Texas at Austin
31.97 lbs./person

NEW for 2007!
Greatest amount of recyclables
University of Texas at Austin
2,742,869 lbs.

Targeted Materials:
(Greatest amount of each material recycled per person*)

Paper
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University
89.96 lbs./person

Bottles and Cans
Kalamazoo College
24.64 lbs./person

Corrugated Cardboard
West Los Angeles Community College
50.35 lbs./person

Food/Yard Waste
Rutgers University
71.2 lbs./person

* per person refers to the campus population consisting of both full- and part-time residential students, full-time nonresidential students, and both full- and part-time faculty and staff.

This year, more than 200 colleges and universities from across the country competed for 10 weeks to see who could collect the most recyclables and the least amount of trash. This year's winner-Cal State San Marcos-was crowned RecycleMania Grand Champion for the third year running.

RecycleMania raised the stakes in 2007 as the number of participating colleges and universities more than doubled. The Cougars of Cal State San Marcos edged out the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. Never one to rest on success, Cal State San Marcos far exceeded its own winning effort from a year ago, with an average recycling rate of 59.4 percent over the 10-week competition period.

The friendly battle between schools, now in its seventh year, gives campuses an opportunity to compete in seven different waste reduction and recycling contests. Materials such as bottles and cans, food/yard waste, cardboard, and paper are specifically targeted for reuse or recycling. The Grand Champion stands out as a leader in source reduction, waste prevention, and recycling, and uses a comprehensive approach to the school's waste reduction efforts.

Cal State San Marcos' "Green Team" continuously identifies materials for waste reduction or recycling, such as aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles, and coffee cup sleeves.

Carl Hanson, a Green Team member, credits the 6,000-plus campus community for the continued success of their recycling efforts. He says, "Cal State San Marcos has really developed and come together as an environmentally conscious culture; awareness and involvement on all levels has been a huge part of our success."

While there can be only one Grand Champion, RecycleMania awarded prizes in seven different waste reduction and recycling contests (see sidebar). Without a doubt, this year's rookie of the year was Lamont-Doherty who secured the top spot in the Per Capita Classic and the Paper contest, recycling nearly 90 pounds of paper per person-twice as much as the next competitor.

Using the WAste Reduction Model (WARM), we calculated that the total pounds recycled during RecycleMania 2007 instead of landfilling avoided the creation of 14,801 metric tons of carbon equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions. This approximately equates to the avoided emission from 11,747 cars not driven for one year and 445 acres of forest preserved from deforestation.

This year's competition may be over, but participating schools can gear up for RecycleMania 2008, which will be held January through April of 2008. If you're not yet a part of this one-of-a-kind program, visit the RecycleMania Web site Exit EPA for tools to help get you started. You can also find tips and suggestions for how to get a leg up on next year's competition.

RecycleMania exemplifies the types of initiatives encouraged by our Resource Conservation Challenge within the national priority area of Municipal Solid Waste and Recycling.

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