SDSU competes in RecycleMania for sixth consecutive year

Sara Bertsch Editor-in-Chief

South Dakota State completed their sixth year of competing in RecycleMania, placing 153rd out of 207 schools across the country.

This might not seem like a major accomplishment, but it has generally increased the amount of recycling on SDSU’s campus, according to Jennifer McLaughlin, a sustainability intern with Facilities and Services at SDSU.  

McLaughlin said that over the past six years, the general trend of the amount recycled has increased, currently hovering around 24 percent. The grand champion was Richland College, who sits at nearly 82 percent.

The competition lasts eight weeks and this year SDSU saw an increase of more than 50,000 pounds in the total amount of recycled items. SDSU recycled 191,491 pounds of paper, plastics, cans, glass, cardboard and cooking oil.

RecycleMania is a nation-wide competition among colleges and universities to promote recycling and encourage waste reduction. It originally started between Ohio University and Miami University but has grown to more than 200 schools.