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USM All Set to Compete in National RecycleMania Competition

Thu, 02/01/2018 - 09:45am | By: Van Arnold

The University of Southern Mississippi is once again gearing up to participate in RecycleMania 2018, a national recycling competition that pits colleges and universities against each other for the title of top recycler. The competition will be held Feb. 4 – March 31.

Last year, USM finished in the Top 140 among 320 participating schools by recycling 78,260 pounds of waste. This resulted in the Hattiesburg campus reducing 110 metric tons of CO2 Equivalent, or 21 cars off the road, or the energy consumption of nine households. 

The 2017 tournament featured schools from 46 states in the United States, the District of Columbia and Canada, with an enrollment of 4.1 million students. More than 400 schools are expected to compete this year.

“RecycleMania is a good platform that allows us to generate some excitement and visibility of our recycling program,” said Melissa Covington-Olsen Sustainability Coordinator at USM. “This, in turn, helps educate and promote awareness of recycling and other growing environmental concerns.”

Covington-Olsen notes that students, faculty, and staff can help USM in the competition simply by recycling all plastic, aluminum, tin, cardboard and paper. Blue recycling cans are visibly positioned in every building on campus.

The USM Office of Sustainability is organizing events throughout the competition to promote recycling, provide information, and share the fun of being sustainable. These include:

2/16: Recycle at the Pete. The Office of Sustainability will collect recyclable materials at Pete Taylor Park as the Golden Eagles take on Mississippi State in a 4 p.m. contest. Fans are asked to place recyclable items in blue cans stationed throughout the park.

2/19 - 3/2: Caught Green-Handed. Anyone “caught” recycling or exhibiting other sustainable behaviors, will be awarded with a coupon for a free meal, courtesy of Eagle Dining.

2/26 – 3/2: Dorm Storm. This friendly competition allows students to challenge other dorms to see who will recycle the most.

3/12 - 3/16:  Spring Cleaning. If you work on campus, now is the time to go through those old files. The Office of Sustainability's recycling staff will arrange special pickups of large amounts of material the following week, which will increase USM's standings in RecycleMania. Participants are advised to shred any confidential material prior to pick up.

3/30: Recycling Olympics. Here's your chance to be an Olympic athlete without having to travel to Rio. Join us from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Weathersby Lawn and participate in Olympic-style events with a recycling twist. Prizes will be awarded.

For more information about recyclable items, visit the Office of Sustainability website, www.usm.edu/green<http://www.usm.edu/green> .