Kent State University faculty, staff and students collected 299,552 pounds of recyclables during the 2013 RecycleMania challenge. This year, 523 colleges and universities across the United States and Canada participated in the eightweek competition that ranks schools based on how much recycling, trash and food waste is collected. Kent State’s Per Capita Classic, or the amount of recycling collected per person, was nearly 11 pounds based on the population at the Kent Campus. That was enough to retain the Braggin’ Wheel for a second consecutive year in an informal competition with the University of Akron. Akron’s Per Capita Classic was 6 pounds per person.
A new addition to the competition was EcycleMania, where schools collected and tracked the amount of unwanted electronics, such as computers, printers, consumer electronics and other ewaste materials. Kent State ranked 49 out of 79 schools in this area, collecting 11,555 pounds of ewaste. Nearly 5,000 pounds of the total came from a oneday drive, where members of the Kent community were encouraged to bring in their unwanted electronics to a central dropoff location. Kent State students and employees plant trees near Engleman Hal on the Kent Campus to mark Arbor Day. Engleman Hal was the winner of the residence hal recycling competition for the third year in a row. RecycleMania at Kent State is coordinated by the sustainability office, which promotes recycling and waste reduction year round. Melanie Knowles, sustainability manager, says this is the fourth year Kent State has participated in RecycleMania, and she has seen improvement in the rankings each year. For example, Kent State’s per capita numbers show an increase of 44 percent over the 2012 results. “RecycleMania has been a great driver for improvement in recycling rates on campus,” says Knowles. “Each year during the twomonth competition, we have more participation and see more enthusiasm among employees and students. I’m already excited to see what we can do next year.” Other results from Kent State RecycleMania include: The amount of recyclables and waste collected prevented the release of 441 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; that number equates to keeping 86 cars off the road. In the residence hall competition, Engleman Hall was the winner for the third year in a row; overall residence hall performance saw a 53 percent increase from 2012. This was the first year for a friendly competition among some University Facilities Management employees. Five custodial areas competed, with the Front Campus team declared the winners. Another first this year was the Game Day Challenge, which measured the recyclables collected during one athletic event. Kent State collected items during a men’s basketball game and ranked fourth out of 22 schools in per capita. Overall, schools participating in RecycleMania collectively recovered 90.3 million pounds of recyclables and organic material. While the eightweek contest is a good time for students, faculty and staff to be mindful to reduce, reuse and recycle, Knowles says the key is to continue the recycling habit throughout the year. She reminds everyone that recycling on the Kent Campus is easy because it is single stream, which means plastic containers (#1 and #2), glass, aluminum, paper, paperboard and corrugated cardboard, can all go in the same recycling container, indoors or outdoors. Posted June 10, 2013 | Carla Wyckoff