National competition, RecycleMania, progresses
By: Natalie Bland, Contributing Writer
Students pledged to recycle as part of this year’s RecycleMania competition at a waste education tabling event March 1 in the University Union. Towson University is competing against other colleges and universities across the United States for an 8-week competition to reduce waste.
Each college reports the amount of recycling and trash collected each week which results in a ranking based on the amount and rate of recycling. RecycleMania is a national competition which promotes waste reduction and recycling initiatives on campuses across the country.
According to recyclemanaics.org, Towson is currently ranked 85 of the other 170 colleges in it’s division, and is at a 33.9 percent recycling rate as of week three. This website will be posting weekly results.
Towson Eco-Reps encouraged students to take the pledge to recycle. Students could also participate in an activity to guess how long various items are left polluting our earth and see how accurate they were.
Daniela Beall, Graduate Assistant for Environmental Initiatives, spread awareness about the competition and educated students about recycling.
“We hope [students] understand a little bit more about the impact of disposable items and internalize the meaning of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle,’” Veall said.
There will be two more #wastEDwednesday events promoting RecycleMania in the Union March 8 and March 15. Students will be able to play games and have a chance to win a free #wastED T-shirt, representing waste education.
The #wastEDwednesday events will be held on the second floor of the Union from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Anyone can help Towson win the competition by recycling through April 1.
— Bailey Hendricks contributed to this story.
