Assumption College is eager to participate in Recyclemania

Six hundred and five colleges and universities across the nation have entered a competition of massive proportions. For ten weeks, schools ranging from Alabama to Wyoming and everywhere in between will battle it out in a tournament that tests the campuses' willpower, their community awareness and, most importantly, their teamwork.On Monday, February 1, 2010, Assumption College became one of the 605 colleges participating in Recyclemania 2010.

The Recyclemania Competition is independently owned by a committee made up of six people from different colleges and universities around the country. It began as a program of the College and University Recycling Council (CURC) of the National Recycling Coalition. This year marks the first competition ran as an independently owned company.

According to the competition's website, recylemaniacs.org, "schools report recycling and trash data which are then ranked according to who collects the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or have the highest recycling rate." This allows Assumption, with just over 2,100 undergrads to compete with schools that have upwards of 21,000 students.

Typically, the first year a school enters the tournament is a building year. "Every school is different and it largely depends on how much advertising is done," said Alec Cooley, program manager of Recyclemania. He also stressed that in many schools, the students rally around a cause, and their spirit is what makes the difference. For the newcomers, Cooley encourages Assumption students to compare ourselves to colleges and universities in which they are alike. A fellow consortium member, Worcester Polytechnic Institute engaged in their own "Precyclemania" for four weeks to prepare themselves for the real competition. According to Cooley, California State San Marcos and Rutgers University are two to look out for.

In the light of increased media coverage of global warming in the past few years, Cooley has seen a direct effect on his company's efforts. "There's been a definite change in attitudes over the last ten years. The participation of schools has doubled every year from 2001 up until a few years ago. We're still adding a couple hundred schools every year," he said.

Recycling often gets sidelined because of the extra cost, but Cooley assures that ultimately "in most cases, a well run recycling program will end up saving the college more money over the long term. With garbage, you're always paying to dispose of it, recycling you may not make money on it, but it's very rare you need to pay to remove that material."

It was the Sustainability and Recycling Committee that brought Recyclemania to Assumption. "We have attended different sustainability and recycling conferences and we both picked up on it and I suggested that we do it here this semester," said John Langlois, director of Auxilary Services here at the College.

Bea Patiño-Mancuello, an Area Coordinator of Residential Life, also sits on Assumption's Sustainability and Recycling Committee and is spearheading the advertising portion of the competition. Aiding Langlois and Patiño-Mancuello are student groups such as Campus Ministry, the Environmental Club, Student Government Association and any other students that wish to help. Assumption is also getting support from E.L. Harvey & and Sons, Inc. of Westborough, Mass., Assumption's waste and recycling services provider.

John Delaney is Director of Sales for E.L. Harvey. Delaney will facilitate Assumption in its effort to succeed in Recycle Mania. "We collect the waste and recycling material and weigh the material and report the weights to the folks at Assumption. We will prepare the recycle material for shipping to recycling plants around the US and the world. We will properly dispose of the waste at area Waste to Energy plants," said Delaney. "As E.L. Harvey does not own any disposal capacity, we have been dedicated to recycling for over 50 years and we are one of the largest recyclers in New England."

With experienced recyclers on our side, Assumption only has one task left: rally its students. "It's not one of things that have completely caught on yet," said Patiño-Macuello.

Junior Carleigh Baldwin is chair of the Food and Auxiliary service committee for SGA. One of her committee's goals "is to reinvigorate the 'Go Green' movement and get people informed and excited about it again."

"It's really just about education; it's just as easy to throw a bottle or can in a recycle bin as it is to throw in a trash can," said Baldwin.

"Especially being at a school that prides itself on being Catholic and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition," began Patiño-Mancuello, "I really think we should be in the forefront of doing some of these things because we believe in stewardship and these are different things in small ways that can have an impact."

We have yet to see the outcome of the competition; however, the efforts are already promising. "Ultimately when you bring it full circle, you're trying to bring these values and educate these values into the student body," said Langlois. Recyclemania provides the College with the opportunity for students to invest in sustainability on a "personal level."

With the competition underway, students should gear up and prepare for a battle. We're only one out of 605 schools, but the potential impact Assumption can have is vast.

"Recycling is an example of a way that students can make a real concrete difference on their campus," said Cooley. "It's a chance for the entire campus to rally and get excited about it.