| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.14 |
| Liaison | Bremen Leak |
| Submission Date | July 10, 2024 |
Brigham Young University
IN-16: Green Athletics
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.25 / 0.50 |
Bremen
Leak Associate Director Sustainability & Continuity |
Does the institution’s green athletics program include the following?:
| Yes or No | |
| Zero waste and/or carbon neutral athletic events | No |
| A stadium or arena certified under a green building rating system | No |
| A sustainable food and beverage purchasing program that includes athletic event vendors and concessions | No |
| A program to minimize the sustainability impacts of turf management (e.g., by installing low input turfgrass or environmentally preferable artificial turf) | Yes |
| A program to support more sustainable transportation options for athletic events | Yes |
| Community engagement efforts, e.g. to educate students and fans/supporters about the institution’s sustainability initiatives | Yes |
| An athletic team certification program | No |
A brief description of the institution’s green athletics program:
Water-wise turf: Thanks to a capstone project led by soil and turf professors, groundskeepers, and students, BYU's football stadium uses water-wise turf and specialized soil sensors that help prevent overwatering. As explained by then President Kevin J. Worthen, this project not only saves water and money. It also inspires student learning outside the classroom. (See video, from 12:50 to 16:25.)
Public transit: Through a partnership with Utah Transit Authority, all current BYU students, faculty, staff and their spouses and dependents can ride UTA buses, TRAX, FrontRunner and the Utah Valley Express (UVX) for free with a BYU ID smartcard. The UVX stops directly in front of the football stadium, basketball arena, and baseball/softball fields and just a few blocks away from the athletic center, pool, indoor track, and tennis courts. A hybrid gas-electric system, the UVX bus rapid transit line offers frequent connections all day and evening to destinations in both Provo and Orem, making it easy for fans to travel to the game sustainably.
Recycling: BYU recycles cans and bottles at every home game, raising awareness among fans and visitors and supporting student clubs, who receive funding for cleaning the football stadium, gathering and sorting recyclables, and diverting them from the waste stream. At one home game alone in 2021, BYU recycled 18,000 plastic water bottles, or 900 pounds of plastic.
Website URL where information about the green athletics program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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