Georgia Southern University Kicks Off Participation in 2016 RecycleMania Tournament

February 8, 2016

16th Annual Collegiate Recycling Competition Builds Impact with new Electronics, Most Improved Categories

RecycleMania, the premier collegiate recycling competition managed by Keep America Beautiful, is back in action. Georgia Southern University will build school spirit, while competing to see who will claim the championship in the fight to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost the most on campuses across the country. Georgia Southern’s 2016 RecycleMania season began Feb. 7 and will run for eight weeks through April 2. Hundreds of participating colleges and universities will compete and report weekly data based on the weight of recycling, food organics and waste reduction collected. Weekly updated rankings will encourage participation, and educational activities, displays and other outreach efforts will rally students and staff to compete even harder. “We’re excited for this 16th year of the RecycleMania competition,” said RecycleMania Inc. President Stacy Wheeler. “Through recent additions like the ‘Most Improved’ category, RecycleMania continues to be a valuable resource for colleges and universities to influence recycling and zero waste behavior with students and staff.” Georgia Southern’s signature event this year will be the student-run construction of an interactive recycled sculpture in the library in mid-March. Look for the Center for Sustainability’s Tuesday lunch-time tabling events featuring spin-the-prize-wheel for recycling trivia, Can-It Free-Throw and other recycling games. Once again, students, faculty and staff can expect “Get Caught Green Handed” sightings, in which those caught recycling, drinking from a reusable mug, or engaging in other sustainable behaviors will win prizes and have their photos posted on social media. A new addition this year is the recycling competition among on-campus residence halls to see which produces the most recycled goods. “Georgia Southern has assembled a great support team including DFS, CfS, Housing, Greek Life and the Zach Henderson Library to help make RecycleMania a success – now all we need is YOU!” said Lissa Leege, director of the Center for Sustainability. “Recycle your cans, bottles, paper and cardboard, do some spring cleaning, and recycle your old files. Don’t bin it – let’s WIN it and take home another SunBelt championship!” RecycleMania is made possible with the generous sponsorship support of Alcoa Foundation, The Coca-Cola Company, CyclePoint® from SourceAmerica® and Rubbermaid Commercial Products®, with comprehensive program management by Keep America Beautiful. Since the competition launched in 2001, millions of students from 750 colleges and universities have recycled and composted roughly 653 million pounds of material during the tournament time frame. Together, tournament participants have prevented the release of nearly 900,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is comparable to removing 7 million passenger vehicles from the road for one year. A complete list of participants can be found at Recyclemania.org. Contact information for specific campuses is available to news media by calling 843.278.7686 or emailing helpline@recyclemaniacs.org. About RecycleMania The RecycleMania program is governed by a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization called RecycleMania, Inc. made up of a board of directors who are recycling and sustainability managers from participating universities. For complete details, visit RecycleMania.org. Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers more than 125 degree programs serving nearly 20,500 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered and hands-on approach to education. GeorgiaSouthern.edu