ZERO WASTE
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
 Define Zero Waste
 Why are football & hockey different animals?
 The need for something new
 The start of our program
 The game process
 Hurdles we encountered
 Our results
 Plan for the season
 Our toolkit
ZERO WASTE
 Zero Waste: defined as diverting 90% of waste either to recycling
or composting facilities, with a maximum of 10% going to the
landfill, strives to promote:
 waste minimization
 reduced consumption
 recycling and composting
 Sustainability and athletics are a natural fit due to its
 Competitive nature
 Reach wide variety of people
 Raise awareness
 Shows what sustainability can be
WHY COLLEGE FOOTBALL & COLLEGE HOCKEY ARE COMPLETELY
DIFFERENT ANIMALS
Collegiate Football
Collegiate Hockey
 Home Games: 6
 Home Games: 23
 Stadium Capacity: 25,000-115,109 seats
 Stadium Capacity: 750-17,200 seats
 Games in a Weekend: 1
 Game Total Playtime: 11 minutes
 Games in a Weekend: 1-2
 Game Total Playtime: 60 minutes
THE NEED FOR SOMETHING NEW
Magness Arena
 Hockey game capacity: 6,315 people
Our Goal
 Multi-event arena
 Provide a model that is
 23 hockey games last year
 Produces the largest amount of waste on
campus
 Access to the largest array of people in
one setting
transferrable to any indoor
arena sport
 basketball, volleyball, swimming,
etc.
WHERE WE STARTED & HOW IT WENT
 Program Goals
 1. To learn about the existing
systems
 2. To implement incremental
changes to divert more waste from
the landfill
 Planning
 Volunteer recruitment
 Engaging stakeholders
 Defining the area
 Capture the waste from the concourse
 Realizing how little we knew/know
 It is a constant learning experience
GAPS IN BEGINNING OUR PROGRAM
 Bin Placement
 Too many stations
 High contamination rates
 Products
 Inconsistent
 Landfill items
 Education & Fan Engagement
 Engagement with Select
Stakeholders
 Telling Our Story
Game Day Process
2 hrs Pre-Game 1 hr Pre-Game
Game Start
1 hr Post
2 hr Post
After Game
Train Concessions
Check Products & BOH
Check Bin Parity
Train volunteers
place at stations
Weigh back of house & Club level throughout game
Check on
volunteers
Train Bowl Pick
Weigh BOH, Club,
Concourse, BP
Collect shirts/feedback
Check-in give
T-shirts
Sodexo
Custodial
Volunteers
HURDLE: HIGH
CONTAMINATION RATE
 CHALLENGE: Stand-alone bins &
high number of bins
 In the concourse created contaminated bins
 Difficult to man
 Confused fans
 SOLUTION:
 Reduced # of bins accessible to fans in the
concourse
 Outlawed stand-alone bins for 2013-2014
season

Added bin caddies to condiment carts
 Instituted color coded signage and bag liners
 Increased goalie participation
HURDLES: PRODUCT
INCONSISTENCY
 CHALLENGE:
 11 different cups used for beverages
alone
 Too many landfill items
 Each game it was a surprise
 SOLUTION:
 Hide bad products (Shhhh)
 Ran low on stock purchased sustainable
items
 Created purchasing guidelines
 Collaborated with main campus to use
some of the products
PLAN FOR THE YEAR
 75% diversion rate for the hockey season
 Include bowl pick and back of house waste in measurements
 Train all stakeholder staff of zero waste operations and best practices
 Product consistency & alignment
 Improve waste flow to increase the overall diversion rate.
TOOL KIT: WASTE DISPOSAL PLAN
 Create complete bin parity in zero
waste zone
 Consistent/color-coded labeling &
color-coded bags
 Clearly outlined collection for each
arena of the arena
 Create a map finalizing bin
placement, concession stand
placement, etc.
TOOL KIT: DISPOSABLE PRODUCT PURCHASING GUIDELINES
 Work with food service
provider to streamline
products to create a more
consistent disposal method
 Clearly recycling (Blue)
 Recyclable concession drink cups &
franchise clear cups
 Compost: Food & Fiber (Green)
 Food products, ware, paper/wood
products, and hot cups
TOOL KIT: COMPREHENSIVE & TRAINING
 Make sure all stakeholders are trained and
aware of zero waste operations
 Ushers
 Athletics
 Food Service
 Custodial
 Bowl Pick Staff
 Volunteers
 Create training materials
 Back of house signage
 Volunteer training boards
TOOL KIT: SHARE DATA
 Breakdown the data into a
format that fits the needs of the
stakeholders by producing a
game day report
 Volunteer measurement
# of volunteers
 # of returning volunteers


Volunteer satisfaction/feedback
 Stakeholder feedback
 Waste data

Breakdown by collection
location/location type
Contamination rates if possible
 Calculate a diversion rate broken down
into waste streams


Chart your data
 Write a narrative after each game
TOOL KIT: SET ZERO WASTE GOALS, ACTION
ITEMS, & DEADLINES
 Set a season diversion rate goal
 Interterm goals
 Set a goal for volunteer
recruitment
 Season budget/funding
 Create a responsibilities table
for all stakeholders to be
accountable
 Chart action items into a
timeline
QUESTIONS?
Megan Marshall
Zero Waste Manager
Center for Sustainability
303.717.3957
Megan.marshal@du.edu