Sam Zacher
In a world with an increasing population, expanding built spaces and ever-present environmental challenges, creating sustainably sporting venues is a natural first step to tackle waste reduction.
In 2012, Americans produced 251 million tons of garbage—over four pounds of trash per person per day—while recycling just 34.5% of it.1 During the same year, nearly 49 million people attended National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football games.2 Since eating and drinking is part of any sporting event, the large crowds contribute to significant solid waste generation, which presents an economic and environmental problem for many colleges and universities.
To address this concern, colleges and universities across the United States are implementing waste reduction programs. One particularly ambitious effort is the Ohio State University’s “zero waste” initiative at Ohio Stadium. Zero waste doesn’t mean literally avoiding all trash disposal; this specific program’s nuanced goal is to divert 90% of potential waste away from landfills through recycling and composting. Ohio State achieved this by first coordinating with vendors to eliminate products like plastic trays, which can’t be recycled when food is stuck to them, and replacing them with fiber-based, compostable products. It also stationed volunteers throughout the stadium , along with instructional signage to promote recycling and composting.
Ohio Stadium does not have any garbage cans either, leaving only recycling and compost bins as choices for waste disposal. This keeps the stadium-goer from throwing away every tray or cup since he or she must decide to either recycle that plastic nacho tray or compost that hot dog holder. Zero waste is made possible by the help of high school volunteers and ROTC students who help to sort the small amount garbage out of the recycling after the games. All compost is then taken to Price Farms Inc. in Delaware, Ohio. Not only do these efforts maximize the amount of recycled and composted items, but they also promote a more environmentally conscious attitude from game attendees. This is particularly important since sports sustainability initiatives have the ability to reach large numbers of people at one time.
Through the 2013 season, Ohio State diverted 90.5% of the total waste in the stadium and it set its own record with a 98.2% diversion rate at the Wisconsin game. Ohio State also diverted the highest aggregate waste of any college football stadium in the country in 2013.3 Other venues making similar strides are the Oakland Athletics’ stadium, which saves $40,000 annually in waste disposal costs;4 Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, which has made $56,000 to date on recycled goods and donated it to the United Way;5 and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field, which impressively diverts 99% of its solid waste.6 And while recycling and composting programs are clearly not limited to college stadiums, these venues have led the charge. Indeed, one of the greatest aspects of this waste diversion campaign is that Ohio Stadium and Beaver Stadium are two of the top four largest college football stadiums in the US7.
Fostering sports sustainability is no easy task but if OSU’s experience with creating a “zero waste” stadium is any indication then there are significant benefits that will follow sincere campaigns to green America’s sports venues
Sam Zacher is a Guest Contributor in EAF’s 2014-15 blog series about sports sustainability. Follow @UChicagoEAF for more updates and insights.
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SOURCES
“Municipal Solid Waste.” United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2014.
1
Web. http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/.
“2012 National College Football Attendance.” National Collegiate Athletic
2
Association. 2012. Web. http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2012.pdf.
“Zero Waste.” The Ohio State University. 2014. Web. http://footprint.osu.edu/zero-waste-ohio-stadium/.
3
“Success Stories.” “Stadiums.” United States Environmental Protection
4
Agency. Web. 2014. http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/tools/rogo/venues/stadiums.htm#success.
“Beaver Stadium Recycling Program.” Pennsylvania State University Sustainability.
5
Web. 2013. http://www.sustainability.psu.edu/live/what-penn-state-can-do/recycling-and-waste-management/beaver-stadium-recycling-program.
“Eagles Go Green Program 2.0.” “Sidelines.” Philadelphia Eagles. Web. 2014. http://
6
www.philadelphiaeagles.com/community/gogreen.html.
“10 Biggest Stadiums in College Football.” Sportige. Web. 2014. http://
7
sportige.com/biggest-stadiums-in-college-football-08-21-2014/
.