As part of the national RecycleMania competition, University of Iowa students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to recycle as part of a spring-cleaning effort from March 10-14 in their offices, residence halls, or apartments.

Additional recycling bins to accommodate extra material can be requested through building coordinators or custodial supervisors. A Recycling FAQ Picture Guide is available to help determine what items are recyclable.

The spring clean out is just one of the several activities planned for RecycleMania, a national competition pitting more than 500 campuses against each other as a way to promote recycling and waste reduction activities to their campus communities.

The UI is in second place in the Big Ten with a 35 percent recycling rate six weeks into the eight week RecycleMania competition. The UI had a 28 percent recycling rate during RecycleMania in 2013.

Over the past six weeks, students, faculty, and staff have participated in several activities to engage in recycling and waste reduction efforts, such as taking a recycling quiz and Mug Shots, a reusable mug and tumbler giveaway (See the “mug shots” on Flickr). They also shared their recycling stories and photos, posted here.

Student teams collected recycling at three Hawkeye men’s basketball games and Herky toured the campus March 6 and 7, encouraging everyone to recycle. For each activity, students, faculty, and staff can log their participation at recycle.uiowa.edu for a chance to win apple cider donuts.

The UI’s goal is to be at the top of the Big Ten by the end of the competition on March 29.

For more information about RecycleMania at the UI, visit recycle.uiowa.edu.