For ten weeks, Carnegie Mellon participated in a nationwide competition, Recyclemania, to recycle the most recyclables. Recyclemania is a competitive but friendly program that encourages colleges in the U.S. to be more conscious of their waste – making sure to recycle as possible and reduce the amount of trash that is thrown out. The program has attracted many schools to participate since its inception in 2001. This year, Recyclemania drew in 201 schools. This is Carnegie Mellon's fourth year participating.

In order to rank the schools, Recyclemania requires each school to provide data relevant to the categories in which it is participating. It is not easy to keep count of the types of waste that the school throws away each week. Carnegie Mellon asked vendors to meticulously weigh the large quantities of each type of recyclable (paper, cardboard, plastic, etc.) collected. These figures were then submitted to the national organization for comparison. Schools are ranked in many different ways, such as most recyclables per capita and least amount of trash per capita.

"Everybody pays more attention when there are numbers involved," said Barb Kviz, environmental coordinator for Carnegie Mellon. "It makes us think about our accountability and what we can do to improve our recycling practices."

Kviz is pleased that CMU is improving each year as more items are recycled and waste is reduced. Her goal is for the University to rank above half of the national rankings and among the top in Pennsylvania. Carnegie Mellon has ranked in the upper third in each of its categories: Grand Champion, Per Capita Classic, Waste Minimization, Per Capita Paper, Per Capita Corrugated Cardboard, and Per Capita Bottles and Cans. Carnegie Mellon's performance this year has surpassed that of its previous years in the competition.

Each year, the school makes recycling easier by placing more recycling receptacles around campus and setting up solar trash compactors. For other items, such as batteries and CDs, they can be dropped off in the Green Practices room in the UC or sent to "FMS Recycling" through campus mail.

Kviz hopes the school's participation in this competition will raise more awareness about waste practices. This year, a communications design class undertook a project to spread the message around campus. Kviz expects the school's performance in Recyclemania to improve even more next year.

For more information about Recyclemania and to view the standings, please visit the Recyclemania homepage. For more information about Green Practices, please visit its website.

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