Using gloves, masks and plastic bags, a handful of recycling enthusiasts sifted through mounds of trash yesterday to raise awareness for Recycle Mania, an upcoming nationwide university recycling challenge.

The group, composed of UA and Pima Recycle officials, met in the quad north of Campus Health to demonstrate to onlookers and passers-by the surprising amount of recyclables trashed over a typical UA weekend.

"We are taking a load of weekend trash and calculating the recyclables thrown away," said Jessica Schluederberg, the UA Residence Life recycling coordinator. "After Recycle Mania we'll take another weekend load from the same location and test the results in the same way."

The team rummaged through more than 180 pounds of weekend waste.

The recyclers calculated the waste by weighing the separated trash from recyclable material like cardboard, aluminum cans, paper and plastics.

The audit's results showed that roughly 50 percent of the trash was recyclable.

"For our first-ever waste audit, I thought the results showed more recyclables in the trash than I expected," Schluederberg said. "If we could get it down to one-third recyclables in the trash it would be much better."

The group found that the recyclable-to-waste ratio was 89.6-to-96.8 pounds, or a 48 percent to 52 percent difference.

Office paper and glass were the most common recyclables found trashed, making up 28 percent of the recyclables.

"I think people underestimate waste audit," Alana Levine, program coordinator for Recycling and Waste Management. "In order to run an effective recycling program, you really need to know what the contents of your trash is to begin with."

Recycle Mania is a 10-week competition between universities for various categories of waste reduction. It is scheduled to begin Sunday and run until April 9.

UA ended the 2005 competition with a marginal defeat by rival ASU.

"Last year ASU beat us by 0.05 pounds per resident," Schluederberg said. "We're pretty confident because we've been recycling more this year. We can beat them."

For the past three years, every student has been provided with a recycling bin for his or her room.

Residence Life has provided additional funding to the UA recycling program, which has grown considerably over the past couple of years, Schluederberg said.

The UA has not performed an all-campus waste audit for more than a decade, Levine said.

Any items found while conducting the audit and the location of the hall being audited are confidential to ensure each resident's privacy.

"Waste audits can be helpful in figuring out the effectiveness of Recycle Mania and the recycling habits of students," Schluederberg said.