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RecycleMania: Penn is Moving up in the Ranks!
March 4, 2008, Volume 54, No. 24

RecycleMania

Data from the third week of RecycleMania is now in and Penn is on the move!

Per Capita Classic: Schools compete to see which can collect the largest amount of acceptable recyclables per person—Penn collected 3.95 lbs. per person and ranks 90th out of 158 schools—up from 91st last week! With 3 additional schools joining the competition, we recognize a 1 percent increase in rank; and a 2 percent improvement in percentile ranking.

Gorilla Prize: Honors the school that recycles the highest gross tonnage of materials regardless of campus population—Penn recycled 160,585 lbs. and ranks 16th out of 176 schools. Although this seems to be a decline from last week (12th /128; 9th percentile), at 16th/176, we are just a little below the 9th percentile. Given that 44 additional schools joined the competition, we maintained a pretty solid overall ranking.

Waste Minimization: Schools compete to see which produces the least amount of municipal solid waste (including both recyclables and trash) per person—Penn is ranked 42nd out of 85 (ahead of all the other Ivies competing in this category for the 3rd week)!

Grand Champion: Recognizes the school that, based on their combined results, demonstrates the greatest achievement in both source reduction and recycling—Penn’s 16.76 percent total shows an improvement from the 7th to the 8th percentile (58th out of 80) as 10 additional schools joined the competition.

A detailed look at how Penn is doing including the individual totals for each College House is available at: www.upenn.edu/recyclemania

Coffee is still free all day on Fridays! Bring your own reusable mug to Houston Market and Einstein Bros. Bagels!

Have you seen…?  The RecycleMania@Penn window at the Penn Bookstore looks great with one of the signed pledge banners in the window on the 36th street side.

Did you take…? The Tap Water Challenge and could you tell the difference between tap water and bottled water? Reported to be a successful event, collecting more signatures for the “Take the Pledge” banner. The students hosting were challenging but well informed.

Is there any room left…? Pledge-takers have filled our initial banners to the rims. But we have more!

Have you read…? The Lorax by Dr. Seuss: “Unless someone like you . . . cares a whole awful lot . . . nothing is going to get better . . . It’s not.”

When Dr. Seuss gets serious, you know it must be important. Published in 1971, and perhaps inspired by the “save our planet” mindset of the 1960s, The Lorax is an ecological warning that still rings true today amidst the dangers of clear-cutting, pollution, and disregard for the earth’s environment.

And we can do even better!

Let’s build on our success! Penn’s RecycleMania website (www.upenn.edu/recyclemania) has lots of tips! If you have specific questions about how your school, center, College House or department recycles send them to recyclemania@pobox.upenn.edu.

When we stop to think about the environment, everyone wins, so remember: Stop! Think! Recycle!

—RecycleMania Planning Committee

 

Almanac - March 4, 2008, Volume 54, No. 24