RecycleMania returns to Elon this month for the university’s fifth year taking part in a recycling competition involving hundreds of colleges and universities across the nation, including 19 institutions of higher learning in the state of North Carolina. New this year is an Elon campus contest where students spotted recycling at certain times of the week can win extra Phoenix cash for their efforts.
Faculty and staff also are encouraged to renew their own efforts to make use of the recycling bins around the university. Organizers say it’s not just students being asked to take part in the earth-friendly program.
The program officially kicked off Feb. 6 with the public announcement coming at College Coffee. The university monitors the amount of paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and aluminum collected on campus before reporting their measurements to national organizers on a weekly basis ending April 2.
Weekly results at Elon will be posted online. Student can also keep tabs on the contest by following @RecyclMElon. Schools such as UNC Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University, N.C. State University and Duke University are also taking part in RecycleMania.
Elon senior Molly Strayer, who is helping to lead the campus contest, said she modeled the new “Get Caught” campus contest that awards Phoenix cash to students seen recycling by the “RecycleManiac” mascot based on a similar contest sponsored by Coca-Cola at N.C. State University.
Prizes will be awarded each week during the eight-week competition.
Another tradition that continues this spring is an internal resident area contest, pitting East, North, West, Colonnades, Oaks, Danieley Center and Loy Center against each other on a per capita basis to collect the most recyclables.
Dave Worden, director of Environmental Services at Elon, said the level of attention given to recycling has skyrocketed since the first contest five years ago. “This campaign is well worthwhile,” he said.
For more information, including the history of RecycleMania, visit the web site to the right of this page.
