In 2010, Temple won the A-10 division Gorilla Prize
— awarded to the institution that measures the highest gross tonnage of paper, cardboard and bottle and cans
— with 403,190 pounds. This year, the university has retained that title, collecting 414,640 pounds and surpassing its goal of 400,000 pounds.

Temple also won the A-10 category for waste minimization,
a category that rewards schools that generate the least amount of combined waste and recyclables
per person.

“This year’s RecycleMania was a huge success,” said Sandra McDade, director of Temple’s Office of Sustainability. “The Temple community really stepped up to help us exceed our goals and find new ways of cutting back our waste stream.”

The RecycleMania contest, which began in early February and ran through early April, creates a friendly competition among schools from across the country in an effort to promote sustainability. This year mark’s Temple’s fifth entry into the event.

Highlights of Temple’s recycling campaign included a kickoff recyclable collection at halftime of the Feb. 9 men’s basketball game; RecycleMania Bingo; a Greek-sponsored RecycleMania basketball game; an environmental racism seminar in conjunction with Black History Month; and a spring break paper purge, in which administrative units cleaned out unnecessary paper materials in their offices.

Temple continues its sustainability efforts year round, with new initiatives such as the Zimride ride sharing network, water bottle refilling stations and the Switch Off lightswitch program, which encourages energy savings in campus buildings.

For more information, visit Temple's Office of Sustainability web site.

— Elizabeth DiPardo