If you have never heard of Recycle Mania, you’re not alone, but it’s definitely about time you learn what it’s all about! Recycle Mania is a nationwide competition between colleges that promotes waste reduction activities for 8 weeks every spring. Each week, rankings are released based on which schools recycle the most as well as which schools have the best recycling rate as a percentage of total waste. These weekly updated rankings give schools a chance to track their performance and see how well other schools are doing as well.

Why participate in Recycle Mania, you might ask? Well, the winners of Recycle Mania receive national recognition on the Recycle Mania website and in a national press release. Winners also receive an award made out of recyclable materials and get to host the award for the coming year. Oh, plus the fact that participating in Recycle Mania results in a healthier Mother Earth!

This year, 104 schools participated and were able to rack up 32,622 Recyclable actions! This was in addition to more than 26,000 positive actions relating to energy and water conservation as well as community service and healthy living.

So how do you participate in Recycle Mania? Well unfortunately, Recycle Mania has just come to a close this year, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t practice recycling habits and get ready for next years competition. For tips on finding new and creative ways to recycle, make sure to like the Winona State Recycle Mania Facebook page. You can also get connected for next year’s Winona State Recycle Mania and see live updates on Winona State’s progress. If you do both of these suggestions, you will definitely stay up to date and get prepared for next year’s challenge. So, what do you say? Join the Recycle Mania movement today!

–James Gardener