RecycleMania spreads across campus

The spirit of recycling returns to the SUNY New Paltz campus as the 2011 RecycleMania Tournament begins. The New Paltz campus will be participating in the friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities on their campus communities.

The program, which runs from Feb. 2 – April 2, involves the collection and measurement of campus recycling from the Residence Halls. Weight data and college rankings are then posted to the RecycleMania results page and can also be found on the RecycleMania Scoreboards posted around campus.

Last year the college diverted 54,892 pounds of material during the 2010 ReycleMania Tournament. “New Paltz Recycles and Recycling Club are working on expanding recycling and sustainability education and practices throughout the entire campus,” said Lauren Brois, the Recycling Coordinator at New Paltz.

Other SUNY campuses that New Paltz will be competing against include: Albany; Binghamton; Buffalo; Fredonia; Brockport; and Stony Brook. Regionally, New Paltz will compete against Bard and Vassar colleges.

“I think the RecycleMania program offers a new incentive for the campus community to recycle and go green,” said Brois. “Through the tournament we can reach out to students who might not necessarily recycle but are interested in other aspects of the competition.” For example this past Thursday at the RecyleMania Kickoff Event over 25 campus student groups were involved in competing for $500 of custom t-shirts for their organization by competing in environmentally themed game shows. Also a grand prize will be offered to the Residence Hall, which recycles the most per capita during the eight weeks.

The club has produced a series of educational videos and a feature film published on the TV station and they are viewable online at New Paltz Recycles Youtube channel: newpaltzgreenthinkin

For more information about campus recycling, visit the greenthinking.newpaltz.edu or become a fan of New Paltz Recycles on Facebook. For more information about RecycleMania 2011, visit www.recyclemania.org.