The Campus Green: RecycleMania!

“Leeeeeeeeeeet’s get ready to RECYCLEEEEE!” We’re not talking about wrestlemania, but RecycleMania!

RecycleMania, a competition across the nation, is a benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities. After 10 weeks of fierce competition, the results are in! The title of “Grand Champion” goes to California State University, San Marcos. In this short span of time, 510 different schools from all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Canada collectively recycled or composted just over 69.4 million pounds of waste. Now that’s a lot of party clean-ups. With 4.7 million students and 1.1 million faculty and staff participating in the mania, the word is definitely getting out about reducing, reusing, and recycling across college campuses.

So how did the mania begin? In February 2001, Ed Newman from Ohio University and Stacy Edmonds Wheeler from Miami University decided that something had to be done to increase recycling in the residence and dinning halls on their campuses. (Miami won that first year). This friendly competition between rival schools gradually evolved into the national college recycling craze it is today.

RecycleMania is not only a great way to gain bragging rights for your school, but also very important in raising awareness about waste management and recycling. Colleges are basically small cities that consume a lot of resources and generate a lot of waste. RecycleMania helps schools realize their potential to reduce both the amount of resources they consume and dispose of. The competition educates students about campus environmental programs and instills in them a love of recycling they can keep for life! And this just proves that recycling can be super fun. Besides helping the environment, what else could motivate students better than beating their biggest rivals in competition! Ultimately though, every school’s efforts contributed to amazing results for the environment and in the end, we’re all on the same “green-team.”

To see the final results in all categories and learn more about RecycleMania check out http://www.recyclemania.org/

Electronics Recycling Guide 2009

Did you receive a new TV, computer, or cell phone for the holidays? Don’t just throw away your old devices! Recycling electronic items is critical for preserving landfill space and for ensuring that hazardous materials used to make electronics are properly disposed.

Here is a list of resources to help you get rid of your old stuff in a safe, efficient manner.

Online Cellphone Recycling Programs

Provider Cellphone Recycling Programs

Manufacturer Take-Back Programs

Retailer Take-Back Programs

Sell Your Stuff Online
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The Greenest (and best) Team in Major League Baseball

The 2008 World Champions of Green?  The Philadelphia Phillies are not only top competitors on the field, but also are leading Major League Baseball toward an eco-friendly future.  The Phillies are the first MLB team to join the EPA’s Green Power Partnership program, which encourages organizations to buy green power to reduce the environmental affects associated with purchased electricity use.

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Denim Insulation is So Rad

Never thought you’d bring more old blue jeans in your house?  The golden age of denim may have passed, but a revival of the tight-fitting stuff is at hand.  And we don’t have to worry about how they look or washing them.

Denim insulation (also known as Cotton Batt insulation) is a new wave hit for green home-building projects.  Made from recycled denim cotton fibers, the stuff is comparable to traditional fiberglass insulation, but without the health and environmental concerns.  Here’s a quick list of benefits:

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Finally, I Can Recycle At Home Again

So I finally have recycling collection at my new home, courtesy of the city of Denver.  But I lived in Denver before this new place, with no pickup…what gives?

Turns out that the city only provides residential pickup for homes with 7 or fewer apartment units.  According to the Denver Recycles website:

Denver Recycles is only authorized to serve residential homes of seven or fewer units, and…not authorized to provide services to commercial properties such as businesses and apartment communities.

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