What is RecycleMania?
RecycleMania is a national inter-campus recycling competition in which over 600 schools nationwide promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities in hopes of becoming the nation's top recycler.
Over an 8-week period schools report their recycling and trash data each week, which are then ranked in the following categories:
- Highest recycling rate ("Grand Champion")
- Largest amount of recyclables per capita ("Per Capita Classic")
- Largest total amount of recyclables ("Gorilla")
- Least trash per capita ("Waste Minimization")
- Individual waste categories such as mixed paper, plastic, glass, food and organics, and e-waste
In 2010, American University placed 3rd in the nation for highest recycling rate, and in 2011 the competition became much more fierce as the data schools collected helped them improve their programs. We need your help to regain our top ranking in 2012!
Schedule of Events
February:
| RecycleMania Kickoff - Monday 2/6, 11:00 - 2:00 Quad Outside MGC Learn about waste diversion and reducation at AU, and shoot some recyclable materials to win a RecycleMania prize!
|
||
| Can Drive @ Men's Basketball Game: AU vs. Lehigh - Thursday 2/9, Doors at 6 PM, Tipoff at 7 PM Bender Arena Bring an empty coke can or bottle to the game and receive a new bottle of coke for free! Then give trashketball a try for a chance at prizes including buttons, mugs, and t-shirts made from recycled bottles.
|
||
| Valentine's Day Seed-O-Grams - Monday 2/13, 2:00 - 5:00 TDR Lobby The Office of Sustainability's Green Eagles will be selling flower seeds packaged in Valentine's Day cards outside of TDR. All proceeds benefit the Sustainability Fund grant program.
|
||
|
March:
| S'Mores for Recycling - Monday 3/5, 7:00 - 8:00 PM North Side "Tiki Man", Letts-Anderson Quad, & Tenley Campus Keep the competition going strong with some delicious s'mores outside the residence halls as part of AU Founders' Week 2012. Bring your recyclables for collection and receive a s'more from the Residence Hall Association and Student Government. Nothing says recycling like s'mores! This event was originally scheduled for February 24th but was postponed due to rain, so come out and let the Founders' Week Celebration continue!
|
| Reclaim, Reimagine, Recreate: Recycled Sculpture Competition
Submissions due Wednesday 2/29 | Judging on Wednesday 3/7, Create a sculpture out of things we normally throw away and enter it in the competition to gain recognition for your work and win exciting prizes. To enter, fill out this short online form. View the sculptures, find out the winner, and enjoy refreshments, music, and a cool recycled craft on March 7th in the Katzen Rotunda! RSVP to the facebook event by clicking here.
|
| E-Waste Drive - Thursday 3/8 & Friday 3/9, 11:00 - 3:00 Quad Outside MGC Students, faculty, and staff can bring personal electronic waste from to be collected and properly recycled. Keeping toxic e-waste out of landfills is a critical part of AU's Zero Waste initiative and a new component of the RecycleMania competition! For e-waste generated in the office or classroom at AU, e-mail ausurplus@american.edu for easy pickup (AU items will not be accepted at the drive).
|
| Can That Be Recycled? - Wednesday 3/21, 2:00 - 5:00 Quad Outside MGC Visit our table outside of MGC and guess which items are recyclable to win organic smoothies in recyclable cups. You might be surprised at which commonly used items we normally throw away can instead be recycled! Stick around and play some bean bag toss to enjoy the great spring weather.
|
Ongoing:
| Wasteless Wednesdays - All day across campus Wednesdays in March Three upcoming Wednesdays in March will feature a series of ways that we can be totally waste-free for a day.
|
| AU Community Trash Cleanup - Thursdays in March, 3:00 - 3:30 Meet in front of the Ward Circle Building Help student environmental club Eco-Sense and the Community Service Coalition pick up trash in the neighborhoods surrounding campus and keep Spring Valley beautiful. Trash will be properly sorted and all recyclables will be properly diverted from the landfill. RSVP to the facebook event by clicking here.
|
Blue Bins - Mixed Paper & Cardboard
Green Bins - Glass, Metal, & Plastic
Coming Soon - Compost Collection
What about other, less common items?
You can find recycling bins for other items on campus as well.
- Most residence hall lobbies contain receptacles for plastic bags, cell phones, and batteries.
- PlanetAid clothing recycling bins are located outside of Letts and Anderson Halls.
- E-Waste - including old computers, TVs, printers, and a number of other items - can be disposed of environmentally-friendly manner by simply e-mailing AUSurplus@american.edu to schedule a pickup.
- A complete list of bin locations on campus can be found on our website.
Why recycle?
Recycling is just a single component of AU's Zero Waste Policy. This policy, signed by President Kerwin in 2010, mandates that AU set a goal of sending zero waste to landfills. The main strategies for achieving this goal are waste reduction and waste diversion (including compost, recycling, and reuse). We first emphasize reduction, as while diversion is great, it's best not to produce any waste at all.
Diverting waste from landfills conserves our natural resources, saves landfill space, conserves energy, and reduces water pollution, air pollution and the green house gas emissions that cause global climate change.
Events
(rss)| Coming Soon | Date |
|---|---|
| Waterworks | 05/26/13 |
| Spring 2013 Exhibitions: Lee Haner, Painting Borges, and Saturation Point | 05/26/13 |
| Spring 2013 Exhibitions: Timothy App | 05/26/13 |
