The trend toward greener game days is most pronounced among the big athletic schools, given their more plentiful resources, says Julian Dautremont-Smith, director of programs for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
At the same time, colleges where sports are less prominent can still find ways to integrate sustainability into game days.
It’s really about the same strategies of recycling and composting.
Link to main story: Winning the waste game in higher ed
That requires:
- good receptacles
- strong signage
- volunteers to help people know what to do
- fan communication and marketing to drum up excitement
While the scope of game day sustainability may be overwhelming, attempts to tackle the problem will pay off in the long run, says Jen Maxwell, sustainability program specialist at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.
“It takes a lot of time. It’s easy to want to move on to something else, but the benefit is that we’re educating 30,000 people who may never have thought about what zero-waste means or reducing their consumption.”
Thomas W. Durso is a regular contributor to UB as well as associate vice president for college relations and marketing at Albright College in Pennsylvania.
