Recyclemaniacs

Friendly competition and motivated university students – that’s what Recyclemania is all about. And here at Nike Reuse-A-Shoe, we applaud students and staff for upping the ante on their recycling efforts.

The recently completed 2012 Recyclemania Tournament challenged campus communities in the U.S. and Canada to gather recyclable trash during an eight-week span to earn the coveted waste minimization trophy (and to win bragging rights for stellar recycling programs, of course).

The tournament, which educates students to get into the lifelong habit of recycling, is fierce. And this year’s grand champion – American University – earned the top rank with 716 metric tons of waste, an equivalent of 140 cars off the road!

Together, the participating schools recovered 91 million pounds of organic and recyclable materials preventing the release of 127,553 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is similar to the release of 25,000 passenger cars or the use of electricity in 15,500 homes.  

We tip our hat to the top three finishers in the 2012 Recyclemania challenge, American University, Union College and Valencia College. Thanks to the help of these schools, and the other 602 competitors, we all get to breathe a little easier.