UMBC organizations and individuals prepare to recycle!  Recycle at your scheduled events, host a recycling event, or create a competition of your own.  Help us beat last year’s 17% recycling rate. Contact us; let us know what you’re planning and we will include your event on the RecycleMania calendar. If you need ideas for what to do, visit http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/index.htm. Recyclemania is supported by UMBC ReSET (Retriever Sustainability Events Team), a Student Affairs and Facilities Management partnership.  Contact: recycle@umbc.edu

RecycleMania is a friendly competition among college and university recycling programs in North America and Canada. For 8 weeks each spring, schools compete in different categories to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of waste per capita or have the highest recycling rate. The competition starts January 22 with two weeks of pre-season preparation. The official competition runs February 5 thru March 31 when all the campus recycling and waste weight totals will be reported.

Last year, 91 million pounds of recyclables and organic materials were recovered, which prevented the release of nearly 127,553 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E). This reduction in greenhouse gases is equivalent to the annual emissions from more than 25,000 passenger cars; electricity use of more than nearly 15,500 homes; or the burning of nearly 695 railcars’ worth of coal.

"One unique aspect of RecycleMania is that everyone is a competitor,” noted Bill Rudy, recycling coordinator at Brigham Young University and chair of the RecycleMania Steering Committee. “No one sits on the sidelines. When a student recycles they add to their score and if they throw something away it hurts the school’s ranking. With the whole campus in the game, the competitive spirit spreads and recycling increases.”

RecycleMania is an independent program of the RecycleMania Steering Committee. The competition is made possible with the sponsorship support of SCA Tissue, The Coca-Cola Company, Alcoa Foundation, Waste Management, Keep America Beautiful and the American Forest & Paper Association. Program management is provided by Keep America Beautiful with additional program support from the US EPA’s WasteWise program and the College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC).