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When the University of Michigan started a stadium recycling program 10 years ago, there was little doubt that it would be successful. The Ann Arbor campus has been successfully recycling since 1989. "It was an old thing in a new place," said Tracy Artley, the university's recycling coordinator. "U of M is in an excellent position to have a comprehensive recycling program. The citizens of Ann Arbor are environmentally minded." U-M and Pennsylvania State University are the only colleges in the Big 10 that have football game recycling programs. During Penn State home games, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts wearing recycling hat pass out blue recycling bags to tailgaters. The bags are used to collect their recyclable waste which can be turned into any of the 37 recycling bin locations on campus. Al Matyasovsky, Penn State's supervisor of Central Support Services, said it took three games for fans to catch on to the program. After that, the program grew on its own. "Waste is being reduced, people are bringing stuff they can just take back home," Matyasovsky said. "Tailgaters even began to clean up after themselves; they decreased our clean-up cost by six percent." |
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Each season Penn State collects an average of 25 tons of glass, containers, aluminum, cardboard and newspapers. The university gets anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 for the recyclable waste. The money is given to the United Way. At Michigan's Big House, cardboard, paper and mixed containers are also all recycled. Since 1995 the Wolverines have recycled more than 96 tons of mixed containers, enough to carpet the football field almost three times. In the 2004 season alone, enough paper and cardboard was recycled to save 150 trees. Artley said she is proud of the program and hopes that other universities catch on as well. She admits that it is a procedure that requires lots of steps and often takes time to develop. "Lack of its existence does not mean lack of caring," Artley said. That seems to be the case with MSU. Pete Pasterz, manager of MSU's Recycling and Waste Management, said the university could eventually have a stadium recycling program as successful as U-M's. "These programs are a combination of thoughts, idea and timing," Pasterz said, "There are some hurdles that need to be overcome in a program like this." MSU recycling hurdles include where to take food waste, finding the right company to accept water bottles and getting the fans to respond to a program. Matyasovsky suggestion: "You need to sit down and think what's important to the folks of MSU," he said. "That is what to tie the program to, and it will be fabulous." Pasterz said MSU recycling could get a boost soon. Spartans are beginning to express an interest and want to see a change. "There's good potential for us to do something," Pasterz said. "Next football season it's possible." |
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