Emerson taking part in Recyclemania

Earth Emerson, an Emerson student–run environmental awareness and advocacy organization, is spearheading campus participation in a nationwide college recycling contest called “Recyclemania.” The initiative is a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities.

Emerson is participating in a national recycling competition called Recyclemania this year.

The contest challenges higher education institutions to reduce, reuse, and recycle and then compare their results against peer schools. The eight-week competition, already underway, requires students to record the amounts of recycling and trash collected on campus. Though this is the first year Emerson is participating, more than 600 colleges from across the United States and Canada participate annually.

Earth Emerson Co-President Erin Moriarty says she is excited about the project and hopes it will bring more attention to recycling programs on campus. “Our biggest hope is to get people more aware of recycling,” she says. “It’s really an unpleasant thought when you realize just how much trash a single person accumulates. And it doesn’t just go away.”

Recyclemania events will take place all over the Emerson campus in the days leading up to the April deadline, when a school will be named victor of the year’s competition and the recycle totals will be released.

Greening the campus and creating a culture of sustainability has been a priority of Emerson College for the past decade. In addition to the efforts of Earth Emerson, the student, faculty, and staff members of the President’s Committee on Sustainability coordinate, enhance, and promote Emerson’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and pursue climate neutrality; promote local and global environmental education and awareness; and institutionalize sustainability into the fabric of the College community.