The Recyclemania program challenges schools to recycle as much as possible over a two month period (February and March). The winning school receives a trophy and their program is the subject of a nationally-syndicated newspaper article. Recycling isn’t that exciting. Personally, if there’s a recycling bin next to the trash can, I use it. But that doesn’t mean recycling can’t be fun. This attitude is just what this year’s Recyclemania event is all about. College students waste thousands and thousands of pounds of recyclable material every year, and it isn’t too hard to change that. All it takes is a little due dilligence.

So far, the competition has been going on for three weeks. This year, we have recycled over 15,000 pounds of material which, according to the Recyclemania website, is comparable to the annual energy consumption of four households. With five weeks left in the competition, the various Colgate green groups need everyone’s help. They ask that the Colgate community pay particular attention to bottle caps, pizza boxes, wrappers, and plastic bags, which are so numerous that they compose a significant portion of our waste. In 2004, the schools participating in Recyclemania recycled a collective 91 million pounds of material (equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of 25,000 cars). Hopefully, if we can be a little more excited about recycling, then this year’s results will be even better.

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