By Allison Nitch | Feb 9, 2016

Beginning February 8, the University of Washington will be competing for the fourth year in RecycleMania - a friendly tournament where national college campuses compete during the course of eight weeks to see which can reduce, reuse and recycle the most on-campus waste. The UW will take on nationwide universities including Pac-12 rivals Arizona State University, Stanford, University of California Berkeley, University of Oregon and Washington State University.

Under the guidance of UW Recycling, a student committee is leading the charge for event outreach. During the kickoff week of February 8–12, a tabling event and donut giveaway will be held on Red Square, with an appearance by Dubs, the UW mascot, scheduled on February 10. Interactive events include the Recycled Art Contest, which encourages students within residence halls and the Greek community to form teams and create art projects made from recyclable materials. There will also be chances to win prizes through a social media comment-contest and a sustainability pledge.

Schools from across the country compete in 11 categories to see which can recycle the most paper, cardboard, cans and bottles, and food waste on a per capita basis; which can produce the least amount of waste; and which recycles the largest percentage of their overall waste stream. Updated rankings published online each Friday allow schools to track their progress and rally to improve their standings against rival colleges. The competition runs through April, with final results to be announced in mid-April.

To learn more about RecycleMania at UW and the scheduled events, follow UW Recycling on Facebook.

About RecycleMania:
RecycleMania is a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities. Over an 8-week period each spring, colleges across the United States and Canada report the amount of recycling and trash collected each week and are in turn ranked in various categories based on who recycles the most on a per capita basis, as well as which schools have the best recycling rate as a percentage of total waste and which schools generate the least amount of combined trash and recycling. To learn more about RecycleMania, visit www.recyclemania.org

About UW Recycling
UW Recycling oversees the University of Washington’s comprehensive Recycling & Solid Waste Management Plan. This plan includes waste reduction, waste collection and disposal, administrative oversight and outreach efforts designed to educate the campus community regarding recycling opportunities and services. Recycling at the University is designed to be visible and convenient and to maximize the recovery of waste. For more information, visit: www.uwrecycling.com