The results are in: How’d Tommie recyclemaniacs do?

By Bob Douglas
Coordinator of Recycling and Central Receiving

The 10-week Recyclemania, with more than 550 participating schools, colleges and universities, has released the final results of the competition. Since this is UST’s first year to participate, there were some doubts over how Tommies would stack up against some of the nation’s greenest schools. But St. Thomas exceeded all expectations and did very well in all categories.

The final results:

Grand Champion: combined results showing the greatest achievement in both recycling and source reduction

• No. 1 – California State University-San Marcos, with a cumulative recycling rate of 78.09 percent

Minnesota schools:

• No. 49 – Gustavus Adolphus, cumulative rate, 36.64 percent
• No. 62 – University of St. Thomas, cumulative rate, 32.37 percent
• No. 80 – U of M Twin Cities, cumulative rate, 28.86 percent
• No. 121 – Macalester College, cumulative rate, 23.44 percent

Per Capita Classic: the largest amount of acceptable recyclables per person

• No. 1 – McNeese State University, pounds of recycling per person, 76.19

Minnesota schools:

• No. 52 – Gustavus Adolphus, pounds of recycling per person, 20.06
• No. 137 – U of M Twin Cities, pounds of recycling per person, 11.44
• No. 156 – University of St. Thomas, pounds of recycling per person, 10.19
• No. 161 – Macalester College, pounds of recycling per person, 9.73

Waste Minimization Prize: the least amount of municipal solid waste per person, including recycling and trash

• No. 1 – North Lake College, pounds of MSW per person, 8.7

Minnesota schools:

• No. 32 – University of St. Thomas, pounds of MSW per person, 31.57
• No. 59 – U of M Twin Cities, pounds of MSW per person, 39.63
• No. 62 – Macalester College, pounds of MSW per person, 41.49
• No. 83 – Gustavus Adolphus, pounds of MSW per person, 54.74

The Gorilla Prize: the highest gross tonnage of recyclables, regardless of campus population

• No. 1 – Rutgers University, 2,131,378 pounds
• No. 2 – Harvard University, 998,411 pounds

Minnesota schools:

• No. 7 – U of M Twin Cities, 727,113 pounds
• No. 115 – University of St. Thomas, 106,083 pounds
• No. 151 – Gustavus Adolphus, 72,900 pounds
• No. 234 – Macalester College, 24,537 pounds

The complete results, including individual commodity results, can be seen at the Recyclemania Web site.

Way to pitch in and a great job recycling, St. Thomas! Special thanks to S.I.F.E. (Students in Free Enterprise), the Recycling Team and the USG Sustainability Committee for all their efforts to promote and support UST in this annual competition. Let’s surge ahead in Recyclemania 2010.