StarSportsBlog

The University of Arkansas intercollegiate athletics and facilities management departments have instituted a recycling program for all home football and basketball games. While final numbers aren’t yet available, the program has so far produced more the 45 tons of recycled materials, diverting more than a third of the waste stream from Fayetteville area landfills. Five hundred recycling boxes have been provided by Waste Management, Inc. The program will continue through the spring’s Razorback home baseball games.

“In our first year one of the main goals is fan awareness. We want our fans to know that they have a chance to recycle their trash, not just throw it away. This year most of the recycled material has been picked up by our clean-up crews after the fans leave, but with time we expect fans will start noticing and using the green recycling boxes around the stadium and the arena.” — Justin Maland, assistant athletic director for facilities.

Story

“Changing the Climate on Campus“

Duke University’s Focus the Nation activities will culminate when the Blue Devil men host NC State in a game to be nationally televised on ESPN2.

The Cameron Crazies, the pep band and the Blue Devil mascot will be given green t-shirts emblazoned with the Green Devil and the slogan, “Bleed Blue. Live Green.” Attendees will be encouraged to sign the Duke Sustainability Pledge, recycle any waste they generate and use alternative transportation to come to the stadium. Duke will also be offsetting the carbon footprint of the game.

The Hartford Courant

With an urgency — and a sense of irreverence — reminiscent of the anti-war movement of the 1960s, a group of activists from Portland, Ore., has recruited students at more than 1,000 college campuses, K-12 schools, civic organizations, church groups and private companies to conduct a massive “teach-in” on global warming Jan. 31.

Inside Higher Ed

At most participating campuses, pledges are coming from many professors — in some cases 50 or more — who are planning to modify their lectures, create shorter presentations or attend the panel discussions. Rather than planning evening rallies, professors are being asked to do the teaching during regular class hours.

Grist Magazine

“If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we will do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.”
– Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

All American Patriot

We are at a critical time when decisions need to be made on tackling the threats imposed by global warming,” says Gus Speth, Dean of Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. “Today’s youth who are inheriting this crisis need serious education on the issue and Focus the Nation has created a forum for learning and interaction with law makers.”

In the 12/31/07 New York Times Most Wanted section on the Marketing Page (print edition only), Shelly Freierman listed the companies who spent a total of $63M on last year’s title game (Florida vs. Ohio State):

• Pepsico, $6.8M
• Anheuser-Busch, $5.1
• General Motors, $5.1
• AT&T, $4.3
• Cerberus Capital, $4.3
• Nissan Motor, $4.3
• Allstate, $3.4
• Blockbuster, $3.4
• Ford Motor, $3.4
• Direct TV Group, $2.6

The going rate for a 30 second spot during the 2006 BCS Championship game was between $268,000 to $530,000 according to TNS Media Intelligence cited by MediaPostPublications . The 30 second spot at last year’s NFL’s SuperBowl cost $2.5M.

Congrats to the team, students, administrators and sustainability folks at the University of Florida who worked with the Florida Forestry Association and Environmental Defense to organize what is being billed as the “first carbon neutral college football game“.

To counter the expected emissions of the game, Environmental Defense is purchasing carbon offsets in an amount equal to the GHG generated by the game and its related activities. Subject to technical review, offsets will come from reforestation (tree planting) and improved management of forestlands in nearby Dixie County. The land is owned by long time UF supporters Jim and Winston Bailey and managed by Natural Resource Planning Services, Inc. (If needed, offsets from other sources will also be acquired; all offsets acquired by Environmental Defense will be permanently retired and never resold.)

Florida Governor Charlie Crist was in attendance and used the opportunity to promote the leadership of the school and his own Climate Change Initiatives.

“Florida is leading the way in addressing global climate change. I applaud the University of Florida for being a leader within the NCAA for addressing green-house gas emissions. Florida has one of the greatest rivalries in college football. To experience this setting in a carbon-neutral way sets a great example for the rest of the nation…As we enjoy the beauty and blessings of Florida, we must continue to be aware of the impact our activities have on our natural environment. I am proud of the proactive steps the university and its partners are taking to host this game in a way that offsets this impact.”

Press release from Governor Crist’s Office
Case Study (.pdf) from the University of Florida Sustainability Office

“Please compost or recycle everything purchased here! Whaddya expect at a football stadium in Davis?“

So reads the sign above an Aggie Stadium concession stand. The stadium’s “R4” policy (for recycle, reuse, reduce, rebuy) is the leading edge of the university’s commitment to be “zero waste” by 2020…or sooner. Composting is a major part of the plan, with leftover food, PLA (corn-based plastic) drinking cups and various wrappers all heading to an industrial composting site in nearby Vacaville to be turned into soil.

The numbers from a September home football game: 400 pounds of trash, 700 pounds of compostable items and 335 pounds of bottles and cans, or 72% of waste diverted from the landfill.

Watch at YouTube
Read at the Sacramento Bee