| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.26 |
| Liaison | Matt Wolsfeld |
| Submission Date | March 21, 2023 |
University of Saskatchewan
IN-16: Green Athletics
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.00 / 0.50 |
Matt
Wolsfeld Community Engagement Co-ordinator Office of Sustainability |
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:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Article on Soccer Fields:
https://news.usask.ca/articles/general/2014/pitch-perfect.php
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