Osprey Initiative recently participated in a recycling effort at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Photo courtesy of Osprey Initiative.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Environmental Studies program and Osprey Initiative will launch a Green Game Recycling Pilot Project during UTC’s Homecoming football game on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Finley Stadium. The Mocs take on Mercer University at 1 p.m.
The recycling effort is part of ongoing work to increase recycling and student involvement in sustainability initiatives across the UTC campus.
The Green Game pilot adds a student-engagement and data-collection component to the recycling process at Finley Stadium. Results from the effort will help UTC and Osprey Initiative better understand materials collected during the game and identify opportunities for future recycling projects on campus and at other UTC events.
“When it comes to sustainability projects that attract student interest, recycling is consistently at the top of the list,” said Catherine Meeks Quinlan, associate lecturer of English, co-director of Environmental Studies and coordinator of student sustainability initiatives. “Our hope is that involving students in collecting, sorting and analyzing data will provide experiential learning in sustainability and lead to improvements in on-campus recycling.”
Sophia Ciesielski, a UTC senior majoring in Environmental Studies and Spanish, said the event could help make environmental health opportunities more visible and accessible to students.
“I’m excited about this recycling event because it has the potential to become another consistent opportunity to promote environmental health at UTC,” said Ciesielski, a native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. “We don’t have a lot of those that are readily apparent and accessible to students, so I think showing this off after a football event is a great way to spread awareness about these kinds of opportunities.”
The pilot is supported by grant funding provided by TVA.
“Osprey helps universities build programs like these so they can better understand their recycling streams and their impact, as opposed to putting their items in a recycling bin and then never hearing about it again,” said Ryan Singer, regional business development lead for Osprey Initiative.
After the game, UTC students will collect recyclable materials from existing blue-bagged bins around Finley Stadium, as well as recyclables inside the stadium, and sort the materials using Osprey Initiative’s mobile sorting tables. Aluminum cans collected during the effort will support Finley Stadium’s partnership with TriStar Beverage, which directs proceeds from recycled cans to Habitat for Humanity.
Data gathered from the pilot project will be used to inform additional recycling projects at UTC.
Students who want to get involved in recycling or other sustainability initiatives on campus can contact Catherine Meeks Quinlan at [email protected].
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