Sustainability in Athletics Student Panel
By Francesca Green and Sam Kleinfinger
Introduction
As role models on and off the field, student athletes hold influence in promoting sustainability. Two UW athletes, Eli Maesner, a current POE senior and a member of the UW rowing team, and Melanie Wade, a recent UW graduate and a womenâs volleyball player, each had the opportunity to share their experiences with sustainability both on and off the court.
Figure 1. Melanie (left) and Eli (right) sharing their experiences with sustainability.
Eli talked about being out in nature during rowing practice everyday being one of the main reasons he wanted to get involved, which he did by interning with the UW athletic department, specifically the green games program which includes things like the green minute that interacts and teaches fans about sustainability topics. Melanie also got involved in a big way when she requested that compost bins be available in all locker rooms, taught her teammates how to properly sort their waste, and helped get waste volunteers at football games.
Challenges and Successes
Both Melanie and Eli agreed that the biggest challenge in making athletics more sustainable is how fans are focused on enjoying the sport. Interestingly enough, they also talked about how fan engagement could be the key to integrating sustainability in athletics. Melanie said that if we can, âgive something for fans to take home in terms of sustainable knowledge,â Â that that is where the wide reach of sports can really come into play.
However, athletics should be both enjoyable and sustainable because these events generate waste that all stakeholders (fans, athletes, etc.) are responsible for. UW is actively promoting sustainability by increasing waste diversion, reaching an overall diversion rate of 75% during the2018 football football season, holding recycling and composting competitions between Pac-12schools during basketball games, retrofitting the Dempsey Indoor Facility with LED lights, and hosting the Pac-12 Sustainability Conference which focuses on integrating sustainability into college athletics and campuses (University of Washington Athletics, 2019). But is UW doingâenoughâ? Achieving this goal requires more than only sustainable infrastructure; again, it requires participation from all sides.
According to Eli and Melanie, Ohio State University has been successful in promoting sustainable athletics. Ohio State has a season average of 94.12% diversion rate, ranking number one in diversion rate within their conference for the past seven years (Ohio StateUniversity Athletics, 2019). Similarly to UW, Ohio State has a tailgate recycling program and participates in the Gameday Recycling Challenge. But why does Ohio State consistently rank higher than UW in waste diversion?
Interestingly, Ohio State has a sustainability fan guide athttps://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sustainability/fan-guide/â. The fan guide includes transportation tips, such as where to find nearby bike racks, and suggests walking, public transportation or at least carpooling.
Figure 2. âTransportationâ Segment of Ohio State Sustainability Fan Guide.
The fan guide even gives tips on how to host a sustainable tailgate which is helpful since tailgating is a huge part of the athletic event experience and generates tons of waste.
Figure 3. âHosting a Sustainable Tailgateâ Segment of Ohio State Sustainability Fan Guide.
Lastly, the guide includes which game day items can be composted or recycled.
Figure 4. Ohio State Sustainable Fan Guide includes compost vs. recycling list.
Additionally, Ohio Stateâs website includes a list of sustainability goals, such as achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and reduce building energy by 25% by 2025. While this sustainability fan guide and website did not single handedly help Ohio State become more sustainable than other colleges, it is clear that the attitude towards sustainability is unique at Ohio State.
While the achievements made by Ohio State in terms of sustainability are certainly a goal for UW, both Eli and Melanie made the point that in order to achieve this goal, we must start small. Starting with things like adding compost and recycling bins, providing sustainable info to fans, and holding promotions for sustainable actions can help set a precedent that can then be leveraged to enact bigger change. Student athletes themselves can help set that precedent as they hold a connection to fans, coaches, teammates as well as the university as a whole. By providing more information and opportunities for student athletes to get involved in sustainability, they can start to utilize this huge platform they have to make both our school and our sports a greener place.
References
Ohio State University Athletics (2019).â Sustainabilityâ. Retrieved from âhttps://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sustainability/
University of Washington Athletics. (2019). âGreen Initiativesâ. Retrieved from https://gohuskies.com/sports/2014/8/19/209613681.aspx









