The success of RecycleMania this semester will catapult the competition into an annual event at campus.

CMU ranked 64th in the Gorilla Prize contest with a total of 203,253 pounds collected and ranked 142nd in the Per Capita Classic with 7.92 pounds per student, faculty and staff member. This year was the first time CMU entered the 10-week contest, which ended earlier this month.

“Student enthusiasm for this event and recycling in general has been outstanding,” said Shannon Springer, assistant marketing manager of Campus Dining.

Andres Perez-Charneco, RecycleMania assistant, said every one of the 400 schools in the competition did an outstanding job recycling this year.

“Every year, RecycleMania is able to top itself,” he said. “We had some new schools do extremely well.”

Sometimes first-year competitors have a hard time getting a grip on the system, Perez-Charneco said, but that wasn’t the case with CMU.

“From an administrative point of view, Central Michigan did wonderfully,” he said.

RecycleMania was adequately publicized, allowing the recycling trend to catch on quickly for students and faculty, Springer said.

“We look forward to building upon this foundation to build more excitement and participation as we continue to participate in the RecycleMania competition each year,” she said.

Springer said every student has an impact on recycling efforts across campus.

“A small effort can make a huge impact, especially when it comes to the big picture of recycling,” she said.

The competition isn’t about how one school does compared to another, Perez-Charneco said.

“The goal of RecycleMania is to increase dialogue on campuses about waste minimization and environmental impact,” he said.

“(This can) create the sort of paradigm changes the world needs.”

Audrie Thelen, president of CMU’s Student Environmental Alliance, said this competition helped Central to manage waste and keep it out of landfills.

Thelen said she wishes SEA would have had a stronger association to the competition this year, but is excited for years to come.

“Jay Kahn (director of facilities operations) is very interested in being connected with SEA each year,” said the Grand Ledge senior cq. “The connection between recycling and SEA was there, but we’ll have a stronger bond next year.”

Springer said she is looking forward to seeing participation increase for the competition.

“Enthusiasm surrounding the tournament has been infectious,” she said. “We expect participation to grow as it becomes a campus tradition.”

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