SWANA Partners to Promote Recycling on Campus

SWANA continues our promotional partnership with Campus Race to Zero Waste (formerly RecycleMania) to increase recycling on college campuses across the US. Below is an opportunity for students and university faculty to join in the effort.

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Compete in Campus Race to Zero Waste (formerly RecycleMania) 2022! Register Today

What’s CR2ZW? The Campus Race to Zero Waste is the only competition in the nation dedicated to reducing waste and increasing recycling; it’s FREE to participate. 

For 8 weeks each spring (February-March), hundreds of higher education institutions across the country rally their campuses to “up their game” by reducing waste and increasing their recycling and composting in an effort to beat rival campuses. 

The Campus Race to Zero Waste (CR2ZW) helps campuses:

• Advance waste minimization and recycling efforts on campus.
• Engage your students in friendly competition and re-energize your campus community.
• Compare past competition data to spring 2022 and identify priority areas. 

The National Wildlife Federation is encouraging campuses to use the spring competition to re-invigorate efforts and educate your campus community on why it's important to reduce waste, recycle responsibly and live lighter on the planet!

Competition Enhancements! Three campus winners will be recognized for each main competition category (Diversion, Per Capita, Zero Waste, Food Organics) according to the Carnegie Classification for size – 1) Small/Very Small, 2) Medium, and 3) Large/Very Large. This change will level the playing field and allow for more campuses to have the opportunity to win! All campus winners will receive an electronic badge to share on websites, and through email and social media. 

There are categories for both campuses that are just getting started with their waste reduction initiatives as well as for those with advanced zero waste campus programs. 

During the 2021  competition, 2.9 million students, faculty and staff donated, composted and recycled 25.8 million pounds, cut out 230 million plastic containers from the waste stream, and preventing the release of 30,669 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E) into the atmosphere > that is equivalent to preventing annual emissions from 6,463 cars! (Note: the 2021 competition participation was strongly  impacted by COVID-19). 

Opportunities Beyond the Competition. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the upcoming 2021-2022 academic year will be challenging. All campuses are welcome to compete in the CR2ZW 2022 this spring (Feb-March), however if you are unable to compete due to capacity reasons, safety reasons, or there is simply a significantly less amount of trash and recyclables on campus to track – that is OK. Please check out the “Beyond the Competition” opportunities. 

Campus Race to Zero Waste 2022 is powered by Rubicon, a technology company born in the waste and recycling industry and committed to environmental innovation.

Learn more about the CR2ZW 2022 Competition at www.CampusRacetoZeroWaste.org

Register for the CR2ZW Competition. Last day to register is January 31, 2022.