F&M fares well in Recyclemania

F&M competed in the nationwide Recyclemania competition alongside 606 other colleges this year.

F&M defeated both Gettysburg and Dickinson to win the Little Three title, came in second in the Centennial Conference, and 81st nationally in the Grand Champion (combined source reduction and recycling) division.

Individual categories for competition included per capita (cumulative recyclables/person), waste minimization (total trash and recyclables/person), gorilla (total pounds), paper, cardboard, and bottles and cans, and food organics.

F&M’s top category was cardboard, placing fourth out of 230 participating schools. F&M received the same ranking in cardboard in the 2009 competition, though the overall amount recycled increased from last year. This year, F&M recycled 20.67 pounds of cardboard per person in ten weeks.

F&M placed highly in the bottles and cans division of the competition as well, placing ninth among 223 participating schools. The College recycled 7.30 cumulative pounds of bottles and cans per person for the duration of the competition.

F&M ranked 24 of 236 in the per capita division, 180 of 199 in waste minimization, 185 of 346 in gorilla, and 211 of 223 in paper. The College did not compete in the food organics division.

Ranks are determined by the full-time equivalent (FTE) population on campus, including both full-time enrolled students, faculty, and staff. The FTE is the number by which the reported weights in each category are divided by to determine per capita recycling weights.

This is the second year F&M has competed in Recyclemania. The competition has grown exponentially since beginning in 2001. This year over 84 million pounds of material was composted or recycled over ten weeks.