Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.26
Liaison Matt Wolsfeld
Submission Date March 21, 2023

STARS v2.2

University of Saskatchewan
IN-16: Green Athletics

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.00 / 0.50 Matt Wolsfeld
Community Engagement Co-ordinator
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 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 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:
Soccer fields 2, 3, and 4 have been transitioned towards exclusively compost (no conventional fertilizers), which has reduced water needs from 3 days per week to 2, while also reducing the need for new topsoil replacement. This has also stopped the spread of invasive species and weeds in our athletic fields, which has reduced the need for pesticides (no pesticides were needed during the 2022 athletics season).

Fields 7 and 8 are natural grass fields, which along with the use of compost instead of fertilizers has increased the biodiversity of microorganisms in the soil and shows increased carbon dioxide sequestration over artificial turf.

These measures have allowed USask soccer fields to be considered among the best in Western Canada, producing softer playing areas which result in fewer injuries among players.

Website URL where information about the green athletics program is available:

Optional Fields 

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Article on Soccer Fields:
https://news.usask.ca/articles/general/2014/pitch-perfect.php

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.