For the fourth consecutive year, Virginia Tech will participate in this RecycleMania, a national competition designed to promote recycling in higher education.

During the 10 week period lasting through March 27, the university’s Office of Sustainability will track the weight of all recycled mixed paper, cardboard, bottles and cans, and food waste along with trash generated by the university.

The goal is to increase our recycled material by 10 percent while simultaneously decreasing our trash production by 5 percent for the 2010 competition. Most importantly, we want to encourage the entire university community to participate in RecycleMania (http://www.recyclemania.org/).

The Office of Sustainability is asking Virginia Tech students and employees to ramp up recycling for paper, cardboard, bottles, and cans in the next weeks to push our numbers and ratings above our competitors and help to accomplish goals laid out in the Virginia Tech Climate Action Commitment. To help make this more convenient for the campus community, several additional collection points have been placed in key locations on campus.

At the conclusion of the first week, the Virginia Tech recycling rate for core materials (paper, cardboard, bottles, and cans) is at 17 percent, compared with 15.3 percent during the first week of 2009’s competition. The first two weeks of the competition were held as a trial period. The results beginning the first week of February will be counted towards the final results.

For weekly updates on where we stand in the competition, visit the RecycleMania website. For more information or to learn how your organization or department can get involved with promotion or hosting a RecycleMania event, contact Alex Funk, Student Government Association director of sustainability or the Green Team.

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