The WasteWise program's Game Day Challenge brings awareness to waste reduction programs and gets fans to clean up trash from football games. Photo: Patty Mallett
As the Steelers take on the Packers in Super Bowl XLV, university football recently made touchdowns in another area–waste reduction at home games.
How much difference can one home football game make? Apparently more than 500,000 pounds of waste worth.
That’s what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reporting in results of their 2010 WasteWise Program Game Day Challenge.
The program pits football teams against each other in more ways than one. The competiton poses a challenge to U.S. universities and colleges–calculate the waste reduction measures from a single home game day and see where you stack up.
Participating schools achieve waste reduction by recycling plastic bottles, aluminum cans and other recyclables. They also donate, reuse or compost pre and post-consumer food waste and properly dispose of trash in landfills or incinerators.
The program strives to get participation out of more than 2.8 million fans, reduce waste generation from football games and create awareness.
Notre Dame took the agency’s Region 5 Upper Midwest win in their game against University of Akron Oct. 9. The school diverted 37,600 pounds of recycled, composted, reused, donated or disposed waste.
In the Midwest, 11 schools diverted 130,000 pounds of waste. The equivalent: greenhouse gas emissions from 31 cars.
Nationally, 79 colleges and universities diverted more than 500,000 pounds of waste–equal to the release of greenhouse gas emissions from 179 cars.
This isn’t the first time the agency has turned to footballers to green up something other than the university’s athletic program funds. The agency’s WasteWise program has sponsored this event since 1994.
A Knight Center for Environmental Journalism reporting class investigated the impact of Michigan State University’s Spartan Stadium in 2004.
But Super Bowl fans rejoice! There are ways to cut back on the trash–try this article from the Los Angeles Times about greening your Super Bowl party.
The Super Bowl has also taken notice of waste generation and energy use. This year’s is touted to be the greenest yet.
i have an idea people should encourage people to throw trash away and tie trash bags to the railings
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