Purdue shows strong ranking as Recyclemania enters final weeks
Purdue is more than halfway through Recyclemania, a national eight-week recycling challenge in which more than 600 colleges and universities are reporting the most recyclable items per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, and the least amount of trash per capita.
As of the March 18 reporting, Purdue is ranked second out of 362 in the Gorilla category, which measures overall recycling regardless of campus size. The University is ranked 58th out of 286 in the Grand Champion category, which calculates the overall recycling and trash minimization on a per capita basis and determines the winner of the Recyclemania competition. The University's goal is to place in the top 50.
"The final two weeks of Recyclemania will be crucial to determine our place in the Recyclemania national rankings," said Mike Schuessler, Recyclemania student coordinator and sophomore in the College of Agriculture.
Purdue is also striving to raise the Recyclemania personal recycling rate from nearly 30 percent last year to 40 percent or higher this year. At present, Purdue has almost reached its goal and is at 38.57 percent.
"If we do well in the last two weeks of this competition, we'll surpass our goal," says Gary Evans, director of grounds. "Keep up the great work, Purdue."
Faculty and staff may get involved by using the recycling bins in their buildings. A list of items acceptable for recycling is available at www.purdue.edu/buildings_grounds/recycling.
The Purdue Student Union Board and the Purdue Engineering Student Council will host the next two weeks of the competition by organizing various campus recycling activities. To volunteer for an event or for more information about Recyclemania activities, contact Schuessler at mschuess@purdue.edu or 317-504-0385.
"Please make an effort to minimize all of your waste by recycling everything you can. We're almost there, and we want to have a strong finish," Schuessler says.
In the 2010 Recyclemania, Purdue placed 109th out of 267 in the Grand Champion category and 14th out of 346 in the Gorilla category.
For a breakdown of each competition and the current rankings, visit www.recyclemaniacs.org/Results.aspx.
