BYU 10th among participating U.S. schools in total pounds recycled
With Brigham Young University leading the way, the colleges and universities of the Mountain West Conference are expected to recycle more than 1 million pounds of waste through this year’s RecycleMania competition, a national contest pitting schools against each other in the race to recycle.
The annual program will wrap up April 7, with results to be decided April 13.
BYU leads the Mountain West with more than 337,000 pounds of paper recycled. Nationally, the school ranks 10th in total pounds recycled and 13th in the “waste-minimization” competition.
BYU recycling trainer Bill Rudy said he not only wants to encourage BYU students to think before they toss, he wants to get the whole Mountain West Conference on board.
“We want to have the whole conference involved, as the added competition will likely improve our individual results,” he said. “It’s the only collegiate competition where everyone plays, 24/7, no subs, no time-outs. If you throw your paper in the trash, you hurt us, but if you recycle it, we gain. You don’t need to cheer – you are in the game.”
RecycleMania began in 2001 when Ohio University and Miami University challenged each other to a recycling competition. The program now puts 200 college and university campuses in competition and has the backing of the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Recycling Coalition, the College and University Recycling Council and the National Wildlife Foundation.
BYU has been part of the effort since 2004.
For more information, contact Bill Rudy at (801) 422-4662 or visit recyclemaniacs.org.
Writer: Elizabeth Kasper
