RecycleMania

RecycleMania is back at Virginia Wesleyan University!

What is RecycleMania?

RecycleMania is a nationwide competition in which Universities collect and weigh their total recyclables over an 8-week period. The competition has many different categories, some taking into account food waste and composting, others focusing on community outreach and donations. Due to our school size, Marlins Go Green has chosen to compete in the "Per Capita" category, where the school with highest recycling weight relative to student body size gains national recognition. Virginia Wesleyan College has competed in this category twice in the past, back in 2012 and 2014, and placed fairly well, so this year's effort aims to do even better!

Results

In previous years, Virginia Wesleyan has placed fairly well in the overall RecycleMania competition. In 2012, we were ranked 168 out of 266 with a 24.15% recycling rate, and 65 out of 338 with 9.38 pounds of recycling generated per person. In 2014, Virginia Wesleyan showed great improvement, jumping to 74 out of 256 with a 35.63% recycling rate, and 16 out of 332 with 31.67 lbs of recycling generated per person. All of this data is included in the links below.

Results for 2020 are being updated weekly until the end of the competition on March 28.

2020

Diversion

Per Capita

2014

Overall

2012

Overall

New Approaches

Marlin Grille and Dining Hall

This year, Marlins Go Green has partnered with Sodexo to begin separating waste in the kitchen and dining hall. While Sodexo is already very conscious of their waste, infrastructure on campus only allows them to effectively recycle their cardboard. By working with Facilities Management, temporary waste separation units will be placed behind in the kitchens of both the Marlin Grille and the Boyd Dining Hall in order to accommodate other recyclables such as tin and aluminum cans, as well as glass containers.

Residence Hall Recycling Competition

In order to encourage student participation in RecycleMania, Marlins Go Green is also working with ResLife to host the first Residence Hall Recycling Competition. Over the course of the 8-week period, the 31 respective residence halls on campus will compete against each other to see who can accumulate the most recyclables. At the end of the competition, the winning hall will be granted a pizza and movie night*, funded by Marlins Go Green.

In addition to the prize, the winning hall will also be recognized during Virginia Wesleyan University's Earth Week Celebration Ceremony on Friday, April 24.

*Should the majority of residents from the winning hall prefer a different prize, MGG will accommodate their wishes up to an equal value of the original prize.

ResLife Event Request Form