A football stadium may have green grass but does it have green habits? Each week, Great Lakes Echo highlights a Big Ten football stadium’s attempts to do the most to impact the environment the least.
All schools have information on the stadium’s diversion rate – the amount of waste recycled instead of put in a landfill.
Photo: Flickr/Creative Commons.
Stadium: Memorial Stadium
School: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Built: 1922
Capacity: 60,670
2012 diversion rate: 84.50 throughout campus; n/a for stadium only
Scouting report: “We are just starting our green initiative out for the stadium,” said Lenny Willis, director of athletic facilities at the University of Illinois.
The university plans to collaborate with the campus to start a stadium-specific program, with recycling bins at the gates and in parking lots. One thing is certain: they intend to find inspiration in a rival.
“One thing we are going to do is model our green initiative off of what Ohio State is doing in their stadium,” said Willis.