RECYCLEMANIA: Redlands Students Recycle 16,000 Pounds in Competition

Students at the University of Redlands have been hard at work the last month– not just studying, but with taking the time to clean up the environment.

According to the university, students recycled 15,952 pounds of material throughout the last month, as participants in the nationwide "RecycleMania" program, which runs a total of eight weeks.

What's more, the university has been reporting its recycle data to the Recyclemania competition and last week beat University of California, Berkeley, Cal Poly Pomona, and University of California, Riverside in the Per Capita Classic, which tracks the pounds-per-person recycling statistics, according to Jenny Sorenson, associate director of Facilities Management.

Sorenson also said: 

• Of the 11 California schools participating, the University of Redlands has been ranked fifth in paper recycling.
• In the waste minimization category, U of R students efforts topped those of University of California, Davis, California State University-San Marcos, and Stanford University.

"The 'recyclemaniacs' on campus have engaged in numerous activities and educational programs designed to heighten awareness and participation in recycling, including hosting local elementary students for an art contest where the youngsters recycled garbage to make their artistic creations," Patty Zurita, communications manager for the university, said.

RecycleMania will run through March 30 with the involvement of 523 schools, more than 4.4 million students, and nearly 1 million faculty and staff participating in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Canada, according to the organization.