Virginia Tech students write the book on how game day tailgating, other big events can be greener
"Starting from Scratch: Greening Your Game Day," a document produced by Virginia Tech students working with the Office of Energy and Sustainability, can help colleges and universities implement or improve game day recycling and sustainability efforts.
The document not only provides the framework for developing a game day program from scratch, but also includes a road map for continually improving your existing program.
At the conclusion of the 2010 Game Day Challenge, a friendly competition formed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a need for this type of tool kit was identified. Colleges and universities of all sizes requested a comprehensive resource that provided detailed information on how to launch and manage an effective game day program. This project was designed to not only meet that identified need, but do so by allowing students to apply the concepts and skills they've learned in the classroom to real world challenges that exist on most college campuses.
“This was an incredible opportunity for students to be able to conduct original research and then translate it into a resource for the higher education community. Not only are we providing a critical resource for our colleagues across the nation, but we are doing so through the development of our students,” said Angie De Soto, Virginia Tech’s Campus Sustainability Planner.
The tool kit began with a comprehensive survey distributed and evaluated in the spring of 2011 by the Virginia Tech student team. Colleges and universities were targeted that have previously demonstrated successful zero waste events in order to compile and streamline best practices.
The final tool kit was developed in collaboration with the EPA and a national panel of technical experts from The Ohio State University, Penn State, Peninsula Sanitary Service Inc./Stanford Recycling, University of Colorado Boulder, and Wake Forest University. The project is supported by the College and University Recycling Coalition, Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, and Keep America Beautiful, all critical national sustainability organizations.
The Virginia Tech Office of Energy and Sustainability was also involved in the College and University Recycling Coalition webinar, "Game Day: A Step Towards Sustainability in College Athletics". This webinar highlighted successful waste minimization efforts in college athletics and provided tools for launching similar programs.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
