During this collegiate football season, more than 85 schools across the US have recycled and composted cans and bottles, cardboard and food scraps, keeping about 1.5 million pounds of game-day waste out of landfills and preventing about 1,980 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released.
This is according to the College & University Recycling Coalition (CURC), Keep America Beautiful and RecycleMania, which, with support from the EPA, administered the 2013 Game Day Challenge.
The recycling competition among US colleges and universities seeks to increase recycling and composting at games, shrink their environmental footprint and broaden sustainability efforts.
The winners of the 2013 Game Day Recycling Challenge are:
- Waste Minimization Champion (least amount of waste generated per attendee): Central Connecticut State University
- Diversion Rate Champion (greatest combined recycling and composting rate): Ohio State University
- Greenhouse Gas Reduction Champion (greenhouse gas emissions prevented by diverting waste): Franklin College
- Recycling Champion (greatest recycling per attendee): Franklin College
- Organics Reduction Champion (greatest organics recovery per attendee): University of Akron
Last month, Keep America Beautiful’s Recycling at Work initiative, designed to encourage businesses, organizations and institutions to increase workplace recycling, launched a new website, RecyclingatWork.org, with a host of tools and resources including recycling bin discounts.