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Students are encouraged to go crazy turning in their glass, cans and bottles to help Chico State win a national 10-week recycling competition dubbed RecycleMania.
Chico State is competing for the first time against about 200 other colleges and universities to see which school can reuse the most, said Sean Madigan, A.S. Recycling co-program coordinator.
Recycling is the right thing to do, he said.
"Would you take a pen and put it in a pencil sharpener? No," Madigan said. "So, would you take a recyclable and put it in a trash can?"
In the last two and a half weeks, Chico State has collected about 4,000 pounds of cans, bottles and paper from offices, dorms and outdoor recycling bins, Madigan said.
Schools must weigh the recyclables they collect every week and report their totals on the RecycleMania Web site, said Cheri Chastain, A.S. Recycling co-program coordinator. The competition began Jan. 28 and runs through April 7.
Ed Newman, of Ohio University, and Stacy Edmonds Wheeler, of Miami University, started RecycleMania in 2001 to see which school could recycle the most.
Every year, the contest has gotten bigger, Newman said.
It was about time Chico State took part in the competition, Chastain said.
"It gives people an extra push to recycle," she said.
Junior Stephanie Lira said she thinks RecycleMania is a great idea. Lira tries to recycle as much as she can when she is on campus.
"Sometimes I'll be holding a clump of paper in my hand and looking for a recycling bin," she said. "I don't want to just throw it away or throw it on the ground."
Lira did not know about the competition, but she said it will get more people excited about reusing items and reducing waste.
"When it comes to competition, we all want to win," she said. "We want our school to look good."
Chico State has a good chance of winning because it is a smaller school and will be competing in the recyclables-per-capita contest. The weight of the recyclables will be divided by the number of students, staff and faculty on campus, Chastain said. Cal State San Marcos won the contest last year.
But competing in RecycleMania is not just about winning. It's about promoting the idea of reusing resources, said Morea Milgrom, recycling educator co-coordinator.
Senior Erin Gowans said recycling at Chico State is easy because bins are placed throughout campus. Events such as RecycleMania help spread awareness about the impact students have on the environment.
Sophomore Whitney Grayhorse works at the A.S. Recycling warehouse and has not noticed a big difference in the amount of recyclables she has collected since the competition began. She said she hopes that changes soon.
The university usually collects 6,030 pounds of recyclables each week from the 18 bins around campus.
The A.S. Recycling staff hopes the competition will help students learn the importance of reusing items, Chastain said.
"I hope students take away that recycling is an everyday effort," she said. "It's not just something we should do during RecycleMania."
Olga Munoz can be reached at omunoz@theorion.com
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