The RecycleMania 2007 Competition came to a close last Saturday. Over 200 colleges and universities participated in the competition, including the Five Colleges. Over the course of the past 10 weeks, college and university recycling programs throughout the country competed in several different contests to see which institution collects the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita or has the highest recycling rate.

The College competed primarily in the category of "Per Capita Classic," which measures cumulative pounds of recyclables per person. As of week nine, the College was ranked in 19th place out of the 174 schools in the category.

According to Roger Guzowski, Five College Recycling Manager, the College's performance may not be accurately reflected by the standings. "The rules of the competition are very loose," he said. "There are many schools using either inaccurate volume-to-weight estimates or only doing a portion of the campus (most of that group do not choose the worst sections of campus)."

When compared to schools similar to Amherst, like those in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, the College ranks second, behind only Tufts University. Guzowski explained, "Most are using actual weights instead of volume-based estimates and almost all of the NESCAC schools are reporting for their entire campus [like Amherst]."

The final results for the competition will be announced on April 16.