The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
UT Athletics joins Green Sports Alliance
12.20.2011 | Texas Athletics, Bleed Orange. Live Green.
Dec. 20, 2011
UT Athletics has recently gained membership into the Green Sports Alliance, a national organization that helps teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance.
The Green Sports Alliance works with member organizations to understand their environmental performance and develop recommendations for better practices.
Other members of the Green Sports Alliance include the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL, the Portland Trailblazers of the NBA and Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners.
"This is beneficial for UT Athletics because we now have a sustainable platform to reach out to," said Merrick MyCue, assistant athletics director. "With the Green Sports Alliance, we can see what other organizations and facilities are doing to maximize their sustainable footprint."
Members of the Green Sports Alliance have firsthand experience developing and implementing environmental programs at nearly every type of sporting facility.
With the focused aim to "continue to integrate sustainability into the culture of UT Athletics," many efforts on Texas Football gamedays and in the daily operations of the department have been made to improve sustainability.
For instance, this year at home football games, 27.6 tons of plastic were collected and 91 cubic yards of landfill space were saved. In addition, 3,000 pounds of aluminum, glass and plastic were collected at the tailgating lots.
More than 69 tons of recyclables have been collected since UT Athletics has been collecting on football games days in 2008.
"Through our partnership with the Green Sports Alliance, we'll be able to learn and introduce new actions to increase our recycling," MyCue said.
