The UW will be putting its recycling abilities to the test during the next couple months as part of a nationwide contest called Recyclemania. This is the UW's first time competing in the contest.

Schools compete during a 10-week period to see which institution, of the 200 competing, can collect the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, have the least amount of trash per capita or have the highest recycling rate.

According to its Web site, Recyclemania is a friendly competition aimed at promoting recycling on college campuses across the United States.

The contest began Jan. 28 and runs through April 7.

Other Washington schools participating in the competition are Washington State University and Western Washington University.

There are four different categories in which a school can compete.

The UW will be competing in the "per capita classic" and the "grand champion" competitions. The former, the most traditional category, calculates which campus has the most recyclables by dividing the weight of recyclables by the school's population.

There's also the "gorilla prize," awarded to the school with the largest amount of recyclables, regardless of population; the waste minimization award, which measures the least amount of trash per capita; and the grand champion award, which awards the school with the highest recycling rate.

Pat Kaufman, recycling program operations manager at the UW, said Recyclemania promotes a fun type of competition.

"It's a way to encourage awareness of and participation in recycling on campus, while tapping into the competitive nature that is often present on different campuses," she said.

Recycling is not only important to the earth because it saves money, and resources and is a major strategy in addressing global warming.

"It's the law," Kaufman said.

The City of Seattle's ban on recyclables in garbage, effective Jan. 1, 2005, prohibits throwing recyclables away in the garbage and aims to save residents and businesses "as much as two million dollars a year and [to] keep future garbage costs low," according to the city's Web site.

The UW Recycling Program is trying to increase the amount of recycling bins on campus to make them more convenient, but students can do their part by making an effort to seek bins out.

"Be responsible and find that recycling bin," Kaufman said. "Hopefully it's not too much to ask."

The contest requires that all participating schools report their progress on a weekly basis in pounds.

The UW's progress will be tracked by a poster on the first floor of the HUB and online on the Recyclemania Web site.

Reach reporter Shayla Miles at news@thedaily.washington.edu.