Last year, the MSU Office of Campus Sustainability aimed to make Spartan Stadium a Zero Waste stadium, required approximately 96 percent of game day waste from landfills.
While it’s a tough goal to meet, with roughly 40,000 pounds of waste is sent to landfills after every football game, officials and volunteers are up for the challenge.
Dave Smith, waste reduction coordinator for the Office of Campus Sustainability, said he hopes this year will be an improvement from last, when recycling rates weren’t as high due to weather inconveniences.
Smith hopes to increase the number of recyclables collected by adding more containers and making them more interactive.
“We’re going to have 200 containers outside and around the stadium,” he said. “We now have blue signage on the tops and sides of containers.”
Though Spartan Stadium is far from being Zero Waste, Smith diligently continues to work at increasing the recycling rate. He draws inspiration from what other colleges are doing, such as the University of Colorado, which doesn’t have any trash bins in its stadium.
Other goals for his stadium recycling program include more outreach. He said the stadium’s busy environment made it difficult to talk to people.
Students can support the Zero Waste program by simply making an effort to recycle more and taking a look at the containers’ signs when they come see the Spartans play this season.
“A lot of people don’t think that a cup they drink their Coke out of is recyclable,” Smith said.
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