As a follow up to the EPA’s Game Day Challenge post from earlier this week, this set of Five Friday Facts deals with the waste diversion efforts at the University of Colorado Boulder’s football stadium.
- Virtually all public food and beverage services in Folsom Field have converted have switched to recyclable or compostable materials and containers. Virtually all packaging within the stadium will be refillable, recyclable or compostable. This year officials anticipate recycling or composting at least 90 percent of the waste generated at Folsom Field.
- The Folsom Field zero-waste and recycling efforts could reduce energy usage by as much as 455 million BTU, equivalent to the total yearly energy use of four U.S. households, according to the EPA, providing beneficial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for all Coloradans.
- The Folsom Field zero-waste program is expected to be low cost initially and to save costs over time as price differences ease between compostable materials and disposables. Cost savings will result from reduced trash disposal costs and will be tracked over the course of this season. Finished compost will be returned to CU for use on campus landscaping.
- CU-Boulder has already funded and implemented a robust energy conservation program in its athletic facilities that has helped cut energy consumption — and carbon emission — an average of 5 percent per square foot across campus each year between 2002 and 2007.
- Last season, more than 11 tons of recycled materials, more than two tons of cardboard and 53.2 tons of waste were collected from Folsom Field football games — nearly 2.5 times more collections than the previous year.
Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art
