Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 82.81
Liaison Aaron Durnbaugh
Submission Date April 12, 2023

STARS v2.2

Loyola University Chicago
IN-16: Green Athletics

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.25 / 0.50 Aaron Durnbaugh
Director of Sustainability
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution’s green athletics program include the following?:
Yes or No
Zero waste and/or carbon neutral athletic events Yes
A stadium or arena certified under a green building rating system Yes
A sustainable food and beverage purchasing program that includes athletic event vendors and concessions Yes
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 No
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:
At Loyola, sustainability is an important value of our mission of social justice and education. Our student-athletes are involved, both on- and off-the-court in leadership development, self-improvement and service. Athletic programs, competitions and events have an important role to play regarding our environmental impact and how we engage and communicate with the community.
Here are just a few of the activities Loyola Athletics has spearheaded in order to be more sustainable:

Zero Waste Games – Through a partnership of Loyola Athletics, Student Complexes, Loyola Housekeeping, Office of Sustainability, and Loyola Limited, all events provide composting and recycling options with a goal of 95% diversion from the landfill. With the start of the 2018-19 season, food concessions were transitioned to Loyola Limited, Loyola’s student-run social entrepreneurship program and Gentile food service was opened under the brand, Wolf’s Kettle. In sourcing materials, everything was identified for its ability to be easily recycled or composted.

Building on annual Zero Waste Games, organized by Student Government for the last four years, Loyola learned what works well and a student project in fall of 2018 piloted new signage and the new materials reaching diversion rates of 97%. This learning was than operationalized by the various parties and went into effect January 27th, 2019. Attendees to games will see Zero Waste Stations around the arena and hear new promotional messages helping guide guests in proper waste sorting and other sustainability action.

Website URL where information about the green athletics program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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