When it comes to participating in RecycleMania, experience has shown there is no one-size-fits-all approach. While some schools have well established, sophisticated recycling programs, others are just getting started. Where some colleges might have a food service director or custodial manager coordinating RecycleMania efforts during their spare time, others have formal committees with student interns, facilities employees, faculty and administrators all playing a role. The colleges and universities described below all placed within the top ranks of the various categories. Read on to learn more about "how they did it".

Connecticut College Promotional Materials

Connecticut College

In RecycleMania 2009, Connecticut College (CC) was a constant presence in the Top 5, never dropping below fourth place in the Targeted Materials-Bottles and Cans competition. This small school of 1900 students from southern New England has participated since 2006 and effectively used RecycleMania to increase recycling on their campus.

CC, like many schools, uses a combination of poster, tables, banners, and fliers to reach out to the campus body. For the 2009 competition, CC got a positive response to a new poster that focused on the “mania” in RecycleMania. Check it out below and see students rock out with recyclables! Their recycling team distributed news and updates through The Daily CONNtact, a student run newsletter posted around campus and through the campus intranet.

However, CC got the biggest boost from person to person interactions. Their campus network helps foster a campus where many champions are involved in their success. The Campus Environmental Coordinator, Amy Cabaniss, was the main source of recycling information on campus and reports CC's weights to RecycleMania from her Physical Plant crews. In 2009, CC essentially created two environmental coordinators by creating a 10 week position where a student served as the assistant environmental coordinator. Both coordinators managed a network of House and Building Environmental Coordinators. Each residential hall (House) and facility (Building) on campus is served by a volunteer eco-representative that can answer questions about recycling. Environmental representatives individually guide their buildings to recycling success and tailor program to fit a building's situation. Since representatives are pulled from the students and staff that live/work in the buildings, their presence fosters an individual connection to campus recycling. If a student wants to know exactly what RecycleMania is all about then they can rest assured that an answer is just down the hall. Cabaniss is certain that the extra help, paid and volunteer, helped in CC's growth from 2006 and success in 2009.

Connecticut College has worked in ecological and environmental awareness since 1931 and its recycling crew enjoys a good synergy with their campus partners in sustainability like the Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies program. Connecticut College also taps into their Student Government and uses the student-civic body to enhance their recycling efforts. The partnership culminates in an end of the competition final recycling drive where students and staff hope to make the final report one last hurrah! The environmental legacy at Connecticut College gives the 10 weeks of competition an extra air of excitement as RecycleMania success creates a competitive spirit tied to the school's legacy.

For more information on CC's recycling and RecycleMania efforts, check out: http://www.conncoll.edu/green/greenliving/index.htm

San Marcos’ Blue Crew collection team

Recycling bins on campus

California State University-San Marcos

A perennial top performer in RecycleMania, California State University-San Marcos garnered four number one rankings in Grand Champion (2005-2008). In 2009, they took first place in Grand Champion with a 78.09% recycling rate! A young campus that has been recycling since the buildings opened up in 1992, San Marcos recycling coordinator Carl Hanson is proud of the school's constant high numbers. "It really is not a 10 week thing here. We just ramp up our everyday efforts during the competition," said Hanson. Even so, the competition generates a wide amount of interest as the recycling team channels the competitive spirit. "San Marcos does not have a football or basketball team....RecycleMania comes up every year as a sort of sports competition," Hanson added.

San Marcos taps into existing campus networks to spread the word on the competition. With just a dozen posting boards and strict posting policy that all campus departments are held to, a visitor is not apt to find large banners or entire walls plastered with posters. Instead, Hanson and his student assistant send routine updates to all administrative assistants of the 80 campus departments. Each department on campus then has their own source for recycling and competition information. Posters were placed strategically in the main campus dining facility (The Dome) and other crossroads like the elevator lobby where students wait for a ride to class.

San Marcos also promoted to their recycling staff. A team of custodial/landscape workers known informally as the Blue Crew was critical to the sorting and collecting of materials. Blue Crew members learned about the competition rules so they could prioritize the materials they collect. The joint custodial and recycling taskforce further ensured that everyone on campus heard about RecycleMania.

At this primarily commuter campus of just under 9,000, the multiple streams of information lended further legitimacy and value to the competition. "Win, lose, or draw...this is a great way to get attention for the campus," says Hanson. For more information on San Marcos' RecycleMania efforts, check out: http://www2.csusm.edu/facilities/Recycle.htm.

Workers consolidating paper at Santa Monica College

Santa Monica College

This rookie participant dominated the Waste Minimization category through most of the competition only to relinquish the #1 spot to 2008 North Lake College in week 9. Tom Corpus, Grounds Manager at Santa Monica College (SMC), and Recycling Coordinator Madeline Brodie do not know the specific reason for their success. Instead, they credit many long standing recycling and conservation policies that have served SMC for over 14 years.

At the heart of SMC's recycling efforts is a student supported recycling program. Brodie managed a staff of eight student workers that worked twenty hours a week to educate the campus community on recycling. The students kept the recycling staff connected to the day to day happenings of this oceanside 30,000 person campus. "Students really have to be involved," said Corpus, recognizing the potential of peer to peer interactions. Instead of heavy promotion, SMC implemented what Corpus termed a "12 months a year" strategy that converted RecycleMania into a 52 week event. During the competition, for example, staff increased the number of recycling bins on campus 100% to make it easier to recycle. Brodie also networked with SMC's Environmental Affairs committee, an open group that brings together student, staff, and faculty interested in furthering sustainability. Another initiative that contributes to the school's waste reduction success is the in-vessel vermi-composting system in place since 2001 to handle food waste coming from dining facilities.

SMC closes the loop when it comes to materials acquisition and disposal. "We are all about recycling as things go out and about source reduction as materials come in," said Corpus. For example, SMC's recycling team worked together with the purchasing department to default all campus printers at double sided printers. IT employees at campus computer labs were also asked to monitor how much one specific user prints and suggest alternatives if the paper use was too high. SMC also holds itself to a zero-waste policy for all campus events. In Week 10 of RecycleMania, SMC hosted a 1,000 person luncheon that produced no trash, just compostable materials and recyclables. The zero waste policy represents a level of campus cooperation that further helps SMC. The college's Board of Trustees and Associate Students organization created the policy and hold all organizations to it. Campus grounds and recycling implement the policy and make sure that community members know how it all works.

By the end of RecycleMania 2009, SMC was renegotiating all its waste hauling contracts to emphasize waste minimization over routine collection. So, make sure to watch out for them in 2010 and beyond! Check out SMC's recycling webpage for more information on their operations: http://www.smc.edu/Recycling/.

Student Recyclers rally the Kalamazoo Campus

Kalamazoo College

You might not believe it, but veteran competitor and two-time first place winner in Targeted Materials-Bottles & Cans, Kalamazoo College almost never joined RecycleMania. "I thought it was kind of weird for a school to play this game," admitted Kalamazoo's Recycling Coordinator, Rob Townsend. However, KZoo quickly found itself performing well as early as the 2005 competition and found particular relish in competing against East Coast Ivy League participants. "It is almost like March Madness. I look at who we compare with and make my own Sweet 16," said Townsend. Additionally, because most of KZoo's students are from Michigan, Townsend recognized that students appreciate seeing how well they are doing against friends and siblings at other in-state schools.

RecycleMania at KZoo is always a lot of fun. Townsend and his staff of 27 part-time student workers (Rob is the only full time employee for the program) created themes for KZoo's internal efforts such as pirates (2008), James Bond (2007), and Support Our Troops (2006). The recycling crew enjoyed a positive response to "dorm storms," evening events where student recyclers go door to door in campus residential halls. The "stormers" can help carry out your recyclables, answer questions about what to recycle, and, of course, let all students know how well the campus is doing. Sometimes the crew finds that students already possess a green awareness. Because Michigan features a generous 10-cent bottle bill law, students turn to recycling to make money. "Since they already sent aside money to do their deposit, they are aware of separating their recyclables for redemption," said Townsend.

Townsend and KZoo's recycling team increased overall recycling awareness by teaming up with other campus programs. While not directly related to RecycleMania, working together with the Outing Club or refurbishing bicycles through the Helping Understand Bikes (H.U.B.) creates a synergy that makes the campus community further appreciate their living world. "Having a lot of sustainability programs creates a good awareness," said Townsend.

The school's RecycleMania success has attracted campus components not usually involved in environmental programs. Townsend works with the college's admissions office to promote its green profile in marketing. The recycling team also targets first-year students by giving all incoming freshmen a recycling packet at orientation. The packet features information on where and what to recycle at KZoo and items like pencils made of recycled denim or discarded currency. KZoo also recently began offering an e-recycling packet to all new hires, which helps spread the word without any additional waste. Come the new school year, everyone is excited for RecycleMania. "Students come to appreciate it. It is second nature," concludes Townsend.

For more information on Kalamazoo College's recycling endeavors, visit their website at: http://www.kzoo.edu/recycle/old/index.htm.

Bard compost collection crew

Educational signage

Bard College

After two second place wins in 2007 and 2008, Bard College in New York clinched first place in Food Service Organics for 2009 with 26.64 pounds per person! However, they might not want to let anyone know! "[We are] a bit embarrassed every time we see the results," admitted Bard's Environmental Resources Auditor, Laurie Husted. "It makes it seem like we are wasting a lot of food." What the results actually show was how the college developed its composting program into an efficient system that captures all the food scraps coming out of their dining halls. "We are really setup for success," said Husted. Indeed, especially considering that Bard began consulting a local elementary two schools and a pair of neighboring villages on how to begin composting programs by the end of the 2009 competition.

The 2009 competition was Bard's third year in RecycleMania, but their previous near wins helped convince their dining provider, Chartwells, to initiate some pilot sustainability programs amongst their nationwide academic clients. Seeing how well Bard did in their composting, Chartwells implemented tray-less service at their clients nationwide and created a Trim Tracks program where employee monitors how much food waste in generated before service. Sort of like a pre-consumer internal RecycleMania! Unique to Bard was a 10-hour a week student sustainability intern tasked with working with chefs to minimize food waste and maximize eventual compost. Depending on the success of that pilot program, it could also go national.

Aside from the cooperation of Bard's dining employees and the dedicated service of her full time compost crew, Husted promoted green living at Bard through the B.E.R.Ps. That stands for Bard's Environmental Resource People. B.E.R.Ps are student volunteers that disseminate environmental information and RecycleMania stats to their floor mates in campus residential halls. With 65 total B.E.R.Ps, one for every floor of every dormitory, one is never far from updated recycling information. B.E.R.Ps saw particular success with a "caught green handed" program. Featured at many participant schools, the program rewards individuals a small prize if they are seen doing something environmentally friendly (i.e. drop a can into a recycling bin) by a representative. At Bard, the prize was a coupon to campus snack bars. The B.E.R.Ps kept a running tally of how many people they "caught" and shared it through Google Docs, a web based word processing program offered by the search engine giant. The document can be accessed by all B.E.R.Ps and the personal narratives boosted morale during the 10 weeks of RecycleMania. Husted also shared the testimonials she receives from staff and faculty about the program. The personal responses to an announcement or poster reaffirmed that the recycling/composting team had made a connection with the campus community.

Check out Bard's Environmental Resource Department website for more information about their program: http://inside.bard.edu/berd/rrr_policies.shtml

McNeese State University

First time participants in 2009, McNeese State University racked up a first place win in Targeted Materials-Corrugated Cardboard (41.87 pounds per person), another first place win in the Per Capita Classic (76.19 pounds per person) and a second place win in Targeted Materials-Bottles and Cans (13.66 pounds per person). An excellent job for a rookie school, but the results are made even more impressive when you realize that McNeese’s recycling program is entirely student run!

The recycling program at McNeese is young and based on data garnered from previous RecycleMania competitions. "We kept running into RecycleMania whenever we Googled and visited other universities to look at their recycling programs," says John O'Donnell, President of the school's Blue and Gold Goes Green student group.

The Blue and Gold group was composed of nine student executive officers and O'Donnell looked for dynamic individuals that could balance the demands of a recycling program and an academic semester. They also tried to keep some semblance of a social life as well! "...At first some of us made sacrifices to make sure that the organization did not falter and subsequently our grades suffered," O'Donnell admitted. However, the group bounced back and created peer support groups and tutoring clubs that worked with each individual's strengths. The students networked through a Facebook page that helped them coordinate the collection and weighing schedule that begins every day at dawn. The students collected the materials and lugged them to staging areas where additional volunteers weighed bags with hand scales. The sorted materials were then loaded onto personal vehicles and taken to the local Louisiana Department of Agriculture scale where the teams obtained a final weight.

McNeese's high 2009 marks were a testament to the students' dedication. O'Donnell considered the group "warriors for the environment" that scavenged recyclables items littered on the ground and idly discarded in the trash. Dumpster diving might not be for everyone, but it spoke to the McNeese students. "It all boils down to 'how bad do you want it?', and we really wanted it and our teams are very dedicated," said O'Donnell, referring to those extra sticky cans at the bottom of the dumpster.

The same level of energy translated to promotion. The group tapped into social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to send out announcements. These new communications mediums captured the student demographic. "Students have gotten so used to seeing yellow pieces of paper and tempera painted posters that they do not read them anymore. They see them as campus scenery..." said O'Donnell. Aside from the web communications, the Blue and Gold worked with the Student Senate and professors to relay information. Professors spread the word in class announcements that brought students to the site and the organization. Because the school's Student Senate features a representative from each campus organization and department, announcements there spread back to every office on campus. Being from Louisiana, McNeese tapped into the competition's schedule and created a Mardi Gras theme for their RecycleMania kickoff. O'Donnell also wanted the promotion to create passion and not just awareness. The students tapped into internal rivalries and created mini competitions by encouraging Greek organizations to see who could recycle the most.

With the infrastructure already in place and win under their belts, make sure to keep an eye out for McNeese in future competitions!

Massachusetts Maritime Academy

The cadets at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) demonstrated their commitment to land, sea, and air with a fourth place finish in the Grand Champion 2009 category (63.29 %). An excellent start for a first time with a young recycling program. And they want to do more next year! "With 2009 being MMA's first year in the competition we did not have a baseline to work from for the competition," said Kathy Driscoll, MMA's environmental and sustainability coordinator. "The bar has been set for 2010 and MMA will strive for improved performance."

Driscoll credits the entire campus for their performance and feels that MMA cadets have an inherent hard working spirit that translated to RecycleMania success. Their recycling and trash weights are visually inspected by Driscoll or their Assistant Director of Facilities for volume to weight conversions. Cadets are brought along to the inspections and participation is considered both a commitment to recycling and service at the quasi-military school. Cadets living on campus are required to clean their rooms daily and prepare them for an inspection. Each cadet brings their trash and recyclables to a dormitory wide cleaning station where Driscoll and her team can monitor the waste stream. "With recycling collection being a required element of the cleaning station, we can be assured of significant collection of recyclable materials. And with cadets collecting trash also, there is an opportunity to remove recyclable items from the trash and placed into recycling containers," said Driscoll.

MMA taps into this spirit to promote the competition. Cadets gather every morning for a morning formation on the parade field where all students hear daily campus updated. MMA's weekly success in the competition was included in the daily reports and helped create a sense of pride amongst cadets. Driscoll believes that the competition allowed cadets, "...to shine their first year out has had them step up to work hard to ensure proper recycling... I believe they felt an ownership to the program." Cadets also responded well to the set of posters provided by RecycleMania, particularly the American Flag image made of recyclables. The image touched a sense of patriotism and service.

Beyond the protocol, Driscoll and MMA drew upon a campus wide commitment to sustainability. The recycling program began as part of an effort to make a dorm room expansion eligible for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification. The campus obtains some of its power from 660 kW wind turbine and array of photovoltaic cells and solar powered lights. Driscoll and the Facilities have worked in tandem with the President of the Academy and plan on using next year's RecycleMania to gain credit in the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. The success in RecycleMania has helped further legitimize these programs and leave a legacy at the academy.

To learn more about what MMA is doing for recycling and sustainability, visit their Environmental Health and Safety page at: http://www.maritime.edu/index.cfm?page=190

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

This small Massachusetts school entered as a full campus in 2009 and finished the competition in second place for Grand Champion (64.22%) and another second place win in Targeted Materials-Paper (40.29 pounds per person). And do not forget a bronze medal in the Per Capita Classic (66.54 pounds per person) and that Olin rounded out the Top Five in the Targeted Materials-Bottles and Cans competition with 11.56 pounds per person! It was the first time RecycleMania got to share Olin's full potential with all other participants as Olin had participated as partial campus in 2008 with two student dormitories.

However, the 2009 competition started slow at Olin. When Andy DeMelia, Olin's Director of Facilities, first posted the Per Capita results, Olin was in 35^th place. That galvanized the campus and news of the competition spread by word of mouth amongst the tightly knit campus community. "Many people mentioned the competition to me when I saw them," reflected DeMelia on his daily efforts. While DeMelia networked with the Office of Student Life and Communications Office to promote the competition, waste saving initiatives sprouted up on their own as people learned of the competition. "[Individual] departments had ideas to recycle-reduce-reuse. Closets filled with office supplies were consolidated as a cost-cutting measure, but turned out to provide recycled paper that was not going to be used," said DeMelia. Within the facilities department, workers rallied around the fact that it costs the college money to throw out garbage, but recycling is free. That helped keep the interest high amongst the facilities staffed with collecting, weighing, and reporting materials. Individually, professors and administrators timed their file purges to coincide with the competition and help give Olin and final boost.

In reaching out to students, DeMelia and his team started from day one. While the fall move-in day did not happen during RecycleMania, the facilities department parked a college box truck by the dormitories and collected all the cardboard left over from move in day. Hence, students were already aware of recycling on their campus by the time posters started appearing on walls and in napkins holders at the cafeteria.

Check out some of the photos below to see DeMelia and his facilities staff running Olin's RecycleMania efforts. For more info on the college's sustainability efforts, including their recycling program, visit: http://www.olin.edu/sustainability/.

Recycling Bins at Rutgers Stadium

Rutgers University

Rutgers has racked up high scores in RecycleMania ever since 2004 when they first started participating in the tournament. This perennial competitor garnered their third Gorilla Prize win in the 2009 competition with 2,131,378 cumulative pounds of recycling. That is double the amount of the second place school! One reason for the win is mere presence. "We have recycling containers everywhere, in every building. If you don't have the receptacles in place to capture the material you aren't going to have a successful recycling program. Yes, it is that simple," said Rutgers' Tom Cunnigham, Area Manager in the Facilities Department. On their on-campus promotions, Rutgers refers to itself as the "2.8 million pound gorilla." The university also increases gross recycling by maximizing the efficiency of their bins. Specially designed spirit bins branded with the campus logo collect recyclables at the stadium and athletic center. The images tap into school spirit while regular bins are spread out over the rest of the campus.

Rutgers' recycling program is run entirely by in-house staff. Hence, coordinators realize the importance of working with the grounds and custodial crews. The workers are involved in every step of the collection process as the university collects recyclables weekly to send to their hauler for weighing. Cunningham and his team incorporate students through promotion. Rutgers weaves various strands of communication into one cohesive voice that rings across campus. "Never underestimate the power of a free t-shirt or hat! People love them! They create interest, conversation and are literally walking billboards for your program," said Cunningham.

Rutgers expands its recycling education by using campus and local media. The campus newspaper, The Daily Targum, reaches 17,000 people a day and Cunningham reaches them through paid advertising, press releases, and letters to the editor. The recycling team reaches professors and off-campus students through features on local TV station News 12 New Jersey and the two university radio stations. The campus also embraces online communications by creating a RecycleMania Facebook and MySpace page and encourages word of mouth by telling avid recyclers to spread the word. With all this, one could even call Rutgers the gorilla when it comes to recycling education and promotions.

Stephens College

With a FTE (full time enrollment) of just 1,114, Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri finished up its third year in RecycleMania with a big win in the Targeted Materials-Paper competition. Stephens finished with 40.87 pounds of paper per person. Indeed, Corey Clabaugh, Stephens' Foodservice Director and registered recycling coordinators considers Stephens "the little school that could."

Stephens's paper recycling success originated from a combination of its academic nature and the Stephens College Going Green program, otherwise known as SCG2. Three of the most popular majors on campus as fashion design, interior design, and theater. These majors represent half of the student population and those students generate a lot of paper as they print and revise mockups and drawings. With the raw materials at hand, the SCG2 just had to maximize the recycling program to capture all the paper. Of course, Stephens had the success of its 2008 Targeted Materials-Paper win to draw upon. ", The students have a sense of pride when they talk about RecycleMania. The award is displayed proudly... it has been used in tours for prospective students, updates for alumnae and more," Clabaugh observed.

RecycleMania is coordinated by Dining Services and the Student Government Association (SGA) at Stephens. Facilities employees actually collect the materials and record the volume for conversion into pounds. The SGA is tasked with promotions while Clabaugh and facilities handle the reporting. In the 2009 competition, the SGA organized an internal RecycleMania competition between dorms. Using a structure similar to the official RecycleMania, this small competition informed students of the weekly progress of their dorms. There is even a set of trophies made of recyclable materials just like RecycleMania. Students had two weekly updates to look forward to and the internal competitions helped individual buildings see how they were contributing to Stephens's success. Another successful promotion was a Spring Cleaning Day when students welcomed the change of seasons by purging and recycling old term papers, class notes and files.

The combination of academic and administrative influences should help ensure Stephens remains competitive in the future.

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact the RecycleMania Helpline at (843) 278-7686 or helpline@recyclemaniacs.org.