A nationwide competition is encouraging people to recycle more and waste less.

The University of Iowa has several sustainability targets in place to be achieved by 2020, one of which is to divert 60 percent of waste from landfills in the form of recycling and compost. In 2015, the UI diverted more than 40 percent of waste from landfills, on track to meet the 2020 goal.

One way the UI Office of Sustainability is pushing towards this goal is through a nationwide competition called Recyclemania. The competition involves 300 schools around the country, running from Feb. 7 to April 2.

Throughout the course of the competition, the Office of Sustainability will be putting on various events and activities to motivate people to recycle more and to inform people about what can and cannot be recycled.

“A lot of people on campus are already recycling; they already know the basics,” Office of Sustainability intern Laura Neuzil said. “We’re just trying to create awareness about what you can recycle and divert more from the trash, so a lot of it is educational outreach and trying to increase awareness.”

This year, the office is focused less on the competition and more on improving from last year, especially with the looming 2020 goal, Office of Sustainability intern Tara Slade said.

To keep people motivated, office interns will carrying stickers and pins with them as rewards for people doing something environmentally responsible.

“We’re going to tell them thank you to encourage those behaviors and try to inform them about what can and can’t be recycled with some grassroots efforts,” Slade said.

During the last week of Recyclemania, at the end of March, the Office of Sustainability will have a Carry Your Trash week, in which officials will encourage students to carry their trash with them everywhere they go.

“It’s a way of saying, ‘This is the amount of trash I produce in a week, and I’m taking responsibility for it,’ ” Slade said. “And it’s a way to encourage everybody to recycle and compost everything that they can so they won’t have to carry it around all week.”

Even though the UI already has a high rate of waste diversion, George McCrory, communications specialist in the Office of Sustainability, said he believes there are still improvements to be made.