CSU Monterey Bay is among more than 600 colleges and universities that kicked off participation in RecycleMania on Feb. 12 to see who rules at recycling.

The 10-week program challenges schools across the United States and Canada to reduce waste, increase recycling levels, and generally raise awareness of conservation efforts by competing to see who recycles the most on a per capita basis, produces the least amount of waste and recycles the largest percentage of their overall waste steam.

Progress can be tracked online.

Started in 2001 as a competition between collegiate sports rivals Ohio University and Miami University, the program has grown exponentially – 630 campuses in total participated in the event last year, collecting 91 million pounds of recyclables and organic materials. RecycleMania organizers say this helped prevent the release of over 127,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, an amount comparable to the emissions of 25,000 passenger cars or the electricity used to power 15,500 homes. This is the second year that CSUMB has participated. The competition involves the residence halls on the Main Quad as well as the three North Quad buildings. Photo courtesy of Duane Lindsay