Middlebury College
IN-2: Innovation 2

Over the last several years, Middlebury has been a leader in the greening of athletics. In keeping with the dedication of the school as a whole to sustainability, the Athletic department has asked Andrew Gardner, the coach of the Nordic ski teams to serve as the sustainability liaison for the department. When the College put in a new artificial turf athletic field, the runoff from the field was closely monitored to ensure that the field was not adversely impacting water quality. The athletic complex was also retrofitted with motion sensors in many areas to reduce electricity usage. The College also has a “Green Team” of representatives from every varsity team who meet to discuss and implement ways that their teams can become more sustainable such as using reusable water bottles, buying food in bulk to improve nutrition and reduce package waste, or improving recycling during travel. The College’s ski teams and the Snow Bowl where they practice (and where other members of the College community also ski) are carbon neutral. Several students have also initiated a Green Weekend once per athletic season during which athletes are encouraged to wear green laces and an information table is set up to give out “Go Midd, Go Green” bracelets to people who make a personal sustainability pledge and to share information about a wide variety of sustainability efforts on campus.