Recyclemania 2013 weighs in after six weeks
Although no student was able to guess the correct weight of the cardboard bale sitting on the John P. Monahan Plaza this past week, Derek Peterson came the closest with a guess of 900 pounds. Congratulations, Derek! He will receive a gift card worth $50 for the Tommie Shop for his guess.
The actual weight of the bale of cardboard from the Anderson Student Center was 1,020 pounds, according to the scales at Rock-Tenn, UST’s longtime fiber purchaser for both cardboard and paper
Student guesses for the weight of the cardboard bale ranged from 75 to 2,700 ponds. During most regular school weeks, four bales are made from cardboard collected from just within the student center.
The bales made by the ASC baler, UST’s largest baler, usually range from 850 to 1,100 pounds. The cardboard is taken right up Cretin Avenue to Rock-Tenn, where UST currently receive $35 a ton. The cardboard market fluctuates daily. Just 15 months ago, UST was receiving $85 a ton for recycled cardboard.
The guess-the-weight contest was to raise awareness for Recyclemania 2013. This is the fourth year St. Thomas has competed in the national college and university recycling competition. In the past three years, UST has come out near the top of all Minnesota schools competing. This year, while we lead in individual categories of cardboard, paper, glass and plastic and Gorilla (most recycling by weight), we sit currently in the middle of the pack for the Grand Champion division. The Grand Champion is based on recycling per capita, and UST students are not recycling as much this year per student as the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Macalester or St. John’s. We are in week six of the eight-week Recyclemania competition.
Students, faculty and staff can all help UST move up in the standings by pitching our recycling into the recycling bins instead of the trash.
Thanks from the UST Recycling team!
