Organizers said the spirit of friendly competition and environmental awareness is spreading throughout campus as the RecycleMania Tournament returns to New Paltz.
Recycling Coordinator of New Paltz Recylces Lauren Brois said that as with last year’s event, New Paltz will be competing against universities all across the nation to see who can recycle the most per capita, with a sub competition among the residence halls on the New Paltz campus. The Tournament began this past Monday, Feb. 2, and runs until April 2.
Brois said while not all students at SUNY New Paltz are gung-ho about recycling, this year’s RecycleMania event hopes to draw attention and participation from a larger constituency than merely the environmentally conscious.
“I think the RecycleMania program offers a new incentive for recycling and going green. Recycling saves energy, preserves natural resources, prevents pollution and helps make our habits more sustainable,” Brois said. “Through the tournament we can reach out to students who might not necessarily recycle but are interested in other aspects of the competition.”
RecycleMania 2011 will be slightly different than last year’s tournament due to some changes made by the event’s coordinators. This year, only the weight of recyclables from the Residence Halls will be recorded for purposes of the competition, whereas last year weights were taken from the campus as a whole.
Assistant Director of Facilities Operations and Maintenance Kim Nelson said that these changes were made in response to the behavior of other schools and were not due to New Paltz’s performance.
“Last year we did campus wide and it went very smoothly and we did very well, however, the way other campuses were participating was questionable,” Nelson said. “They were holding on to a year’s worth of recycling and then pumping it through for RecycleMania and it skewed the numbers. When that happens we aren’t able to compete in a fair and equal way. So we decided to pull back to residence halls and focus in on having a friendly, fun competition.”
In an effort to build the spirit of recycling throughout campus, the Recycling Club will be hosting a kickoff event for RecycleMania on Feb. 17 in the Student Union. The event, Game Show Night, will put an environmentally-conscious spin on a number of classic television game shows, including “Wheel of Fortune” and “Legends of the Hidden Temple.”
Brois said students can get together in a group, whether it be from a team, club or just a group of friends, and sign-up to compete in the games. The winning team will receive $500 worth of custom printed t-shirts for their group or organization.
More information about RecycleMania or New Paltz Recycles can be found on the “New Paltz Recycles” Facebook or greenthinking.newpaltz.edu.