Scarlet, Gray & Green Program Turns Ohio Stadium Waste Into A Sustainability Initiative – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | General
Recycling project nearly halfway towards goal in only two home football games
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Buckeyes have done more than just win on the field at its first two home games. With the kickoff of the 2007 football season, Ohio State’s Office of Business and Finance has partnered with the Ohio State University’s Department of Athletics for the Scarlet, Gray & Green sustainability campaign with the goal of reducing the amount of trash sent to the landfill.
After only two Buckeye home games, the Scarlet, Gray & Green initiative is nearing the halfway point of its proposed goal.
“The response has been greater than we anticipated,” Aparna Dial, director of energy services and sustainability in the Office of Business and Finance, said. “For the football games, we predicted to collect 16 tons of recyclables for the year from tailgating locations on the Ohio State campus. However, in just two games we already have collected 7.2 tons.”
The collaborative effort between the Athletics Department and Office of Business and Finance began in January. The university initiated a sustainability program both in the stadium and at the tailgating lots to help address the amount of trash generated on campus at Buckeye football games.
This season, the Ohio State University, with a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, purchased 28 dumpsters for use as recycling receptacles at target tailgating areas. In addition, plastic recycling bags are handed to tailgaters arriving at the designated lots to help encourage them to collect plastic bottles, aluminum cans, newspapers and other printed paper separate from other trash.
While in the stadium, all waste is thrown into the garbage bins and later sorted by a recycling company.
“This initiative doesn’t ask the public to separate the trash in the stadium,” Dial said. “Instead the recyclables are taken to a recycling company and pulled out on the backend.”
At the Sept. 7 game vs. Akron, 22.76 tons of trash was taken from Ohio Stadium to a recycling company. From the waste, 17.47 tons of recyclable items were pulled out so only 5.28 tons of trash was actually sent to the landfill.
“Recycling is a sustainability effort,” Dial said. “As a university, we have a goal of reducing the amount of trash sent to the landfill by 30 percent by 2010. The amount of recyclables we are recovering from Ohio State football games will go a long way toward the goal.”
While the tons of trash recovered from tailgaters is greater than the amount of recyclables, the increase of collected recyclables from 1.084 tons to 6.21 at the Youngstown and Akron games, respectively, shows promise the Scarlet, Gray & Green program will continue to grow among Buckeye tailgaters.
For more information contact: Aparna Dial (614-292-3557/dial.15@osu.edu)
