Old Dominion University
ER-2: Student Sustainability Outreach Campaign

RecycleMania is a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities. The main focus is to educate students on sustainability through recycling, though faculty and staff are also targeted audiences. Over a 10-week period, 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. With each week’s reports and rankings, participating schools watch how their results fluctuate against other schools and use this to rally their campus communities to reduce and recycle more. The ODU Student Government Association Sustainability Committee assisted in advertising for the annual RecycleMania competition which was hosted by Facilities Management. The SGA Sustainability Committee aided in the advertisement for this event by creating posters and displaying them throughout the Webb University Center. The committee also created a television ad exhibited on the ODU student channel.

The annual recycling totals have increased each year. The measured positive impacts of the RecycleMania campaign are evident in comparison of the annual totals from Recycling annual totals from the last three years in comparison to the total from 2005, the year before ODU first particpated in RecycleMania. These annual totals are noted below. The results for the 2010-2011 academic year are not yet available. 2005 (the year before ODU first participated in RecycleMania) -- 231,498 lbs. 2007-2008 -- 744,010 lbs. 2008-2009 -- 1,090,025 lbs. 2009-2010 -- 1,317,422 lbs. The ODU Student Government Association Sustainability Committee created a resolution to have recycling bins placed in each of the ODU residence halls, specifically placed in each of the kitchens and community rooms. This resolution will be presented to the ODU administration and voted on. The committee contends the recycling bins in each kitchen and community room will help to encourage students to participate in actively and consistently recycling.