Recyclemania Game Day: Moving Towards Zero Waste

Recyclemania is a nationwide event where schools are competing to reduce waste, increase recycling, and promote awareness for more environmentally-friendly practices. Over an 8-week period, colleges will report the amount of recycling and trash collected each week to determine who recycles the most on a per capita basis. This will also show how schools are improving their waste:recycled ratio as the competition goes on! The main goals of Recyclemania are:

• Motivate students and staff to increase recycling efforts and reduce waste generation.
• Generate attention and support for campus recycling programs.
• Encourage colleges to measure and benchmark recycling activity in their effort to improve their programs over time.
• Have a fair and friendly competition!

At UIUC, SECS teamed up with University Facilities and Services' Bart Bartels to bring Recyclemania to Illinois Basketball! On February 26, almost 150 volunteers worked together at the State Farm Center at the Illinois vs. Nebraska game. From changing signage on trash cans to "Landfill Waste" and "Recyling" to collecting tons of trash leftover in the stands after the game, this game was a huge collaboration and really fun! After weighing all the trash collected, the results are in! After reviewing the data, we diverted 31.5% of the waste from being landfilled! Thanks to all of our amazing volunteers and be on the lookout for more Recyclemania events on campus, like Weatherization's collboration with Facilities and Services to reduce electronic waste on campus.