By Riley Hill
The University of Calgary will be taking part in RecycleMania, a competition between North American universities over who can collect the most recyclables from Feb. 3 to March 30.
The competition has several categories, including most organics recycled, most bottles and cans recycled and the greatest weight of recycled materials. Success is also measured by how little garbage is produced during the eight-week competition.
According to Office of Sustainability co-op engagement co-ordinator Amy Glassman, the U of C will be looking to do well in the competition this year.
“This is our third year competing. We’re in the benchmark division, so that means we’re more just striving to achieve a personal best,” said Glassman.
This will be the competition’s 13th year. Last year, over 600 universities competed.
Glassman said there will be several programs to better the U of C’s chance of success.
“From March 4–7, we will be having RecycleMania week in the dining centre,” said Glassman. “Volunteers will be in the dining centre promoting the different programs to help for the event.”
To help reach their goal, the Office of Sustainability has set up an Erase the Waste 200 gram pledge on their website. The pledge asks students to reduce their waste by 200 grams per week from now until RecycleMania’s conclusion on March 30.
Competitors will also get some assistance from the new compost educators program beginning on Feb. 25. Staff will stand by garbage and recycling bins during peak hours in MSC to help students choose the appropriate bins for their waste. The compost educators program is based off a similar program used at the Calgary Folk Music Festival.