LEWISTON – Molly Ladd strutted down the catwalk in the Bates College dining room modeling a top made of magazines.

Janneke Petersen came out wearing a blue and green pastel halter made of plastic bags.

Both designs were created by biology major Taegan McMahon for the “trashion show” to promote recycling.

As the models showed off to applause and laughter, master of ceremonies “Dumpster Dave” Miller cheered on the students to beat recycling rates at other colleges.

“Miami of Ohio recycles seven times as much as we do, and Bowdoin College recycles twice as much as we do,” Miller belted out over his microphone. “We can do better than that!”

For the first time, Bates is competing in “Recyclemania,” a 10-week competition among colleges that concludes April 7. Bates is competing with Bowdoin and Colby colleges to recycle the most trash per person. Other participating Maine colleges include the University of Maine in Orono, the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine at Farmington.

“This year, over 200 schools nationwide are competing,” said Bates environmental coordinator Julie Rosenbach. “Last year, there were 80 colleges, so this year it’s really exploded.”

Bates dining service has a recycling rate of 85 percent, but the rest of the campus recycles at a rate of 17-19 percent, Rosenbach said.

Students volunteering to pick up recyclables are “totally appalled” at what they’re finding, Rosenbach said. One is freshman Liz Miller, who said she doesn’t understand why more people don’t recycle. Students aren’t aware of how much they’re throwing out, Miller said.

“Recycling was so popular in the ’90s,” Rosenbach said. “It was all the rage. We marketed it to kids who would go home and tug on their parents’ pants and say, ‘Recycle.’ They did.”

Recycling has fallen out of fashion, not only at Bates but in communities throughout the country, Rosenbach said.

The city of Lewiston recycles 49 percent of its waste, but curbside recycling is only 7 percent.

The city of Auburn recycles 25 percent. Some households are dedicated to recycling; others don’t bother at all, said Public Works Director Bob Belz. “They just don’t see the benefit.”

Rosenbach’s answer is to make recycling easier.

“We’re trying to make the infrastructure as easy as possible with big signs that say clearly what goes in and what doesn’t, so people don’t have to stand there and look foolish.”

The goal of Recyclemania is to get people to realize why recycling is important, Rosenbach said. “I have a colleague who said when we’re putting stuff in the landfill, it’s like putting our resources in a hole in the ground and covering it up. It doesn’t make sense.”