| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.58 |
| Liaison | Jim Walker |
| Submission Date | March 2, 2020 |
University of Texas at Austin
IN-16: Green Athletics
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.25 / 0.50 |
"---"
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 | No |
| 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 | 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:
Texas Athletics, in conjunction with the University of Texas, promotes and supports sustainability. We make sustainability a priority in all endeavors and encourage fans to do their part to create a clean and sustainable gameday environment.
As part of our "Bleed Orange, Live Green" campaign, Texas Athletics is committed to reach a zero waste goal by 2018. With their distinctive green shirts, the Sustainability Squad serves as the face of Athletics’ sustainability efforts to fans on game days. The Squad is composed of two volunteer groups-the Spirit Squad and Sort Squad-that are present at every home football game, as well as baseball and softball games. The Spirit Squad members educate fans about how to recycle and compost, explain the zero waste goal, and monitor the stadium’s recycling and compost bins. The Sort Squad sorts through waste generated throughout the game and ensures collection of compost and recycling. Volunteers receive service hours as well as a free t-shirt.
Food and Beverage Purchasing
Our food vendors adhere to our zero waste purchasing policies, trying whenever possible to purchase recyclable or compostable materials as well as locally, organically grown produce.
Turf Maintenance and Groundskeeping
The university set a sustainability goal of reducing campus water consumption by 20% by the year 2020 with a baseline of 2009 in the Natural Resource Conservation Plan. UT Austin manages domestic water, has upgraded irrigation, and used reclaimed water and water recovery strategies to reduce campus water consumption.
Transportation Options
At football games, we arrange for the Longhorns Express to shuttle fans to the stadium from remote locations so that they don't have to drive all the way to the football game
Community Engagement
Coordinating clean up events at both Town Lake and on campus at our adopt-a-street location through Keep Austin Beautiful. Partnering with Campus Environmental Center, Office of Sustainability, and Housing and Dining to educate incoming students during summer orientations. Partnering with the Student-Athlete Advisory Council for various events including a zero waste initiative in our student-athlete dining hall and a gently used shoe collection drive for student-athletes going on a summer mission trip.
As part of our "Bleed Orange, Live Green" campaign, Texas Athletics is committed to reach a zero waste goal by 2018. With their distinctive green shirts, the Sustainability Squad serves as the face of Athletics’ sustainability efforts to fans on game days. The Squad is composed of two volunteer groups-the Spirit Squad and Sort Squad-that are present at every home football game, as well as baseball and softball games. The Spirit Squad members educate fans about how to recycle and compost, explain the zero waste goal, and monitor the stadium’s recycling and compost bins. The Sort Squad sorts through waste generated throughout the game and ensures collection of compost and recycling. Volunteers receive service hours as well as a free t-shirt.
Food and Beverage Purchasing
Our food vendors adhere to our zero waste purchasing policies, trying whenever possible to purchase recyclable or compostable materials as well as locally, organically grown produce.
Turf Maintenance and Groundskeeping
The university set a sustainability goal of reducing campus water consumption by 20% by the year 2020 with a baseline of 2009 in the Natural Resource Conservation Plan. UT Austin manages domestic water, has upgraded irrigation, and used reclaimed water and water recovery strategies to reduce campus water consumption.
Transportation Options
At football games, we arrange for the Longhorns Express to shuttle fans to the stadium from remote locations so that they don't have to drive all the way to the football game
Community Engagement
Coordinating clean up events at both Town Lake and on campus at our adopt-a-street location through Keep Austin Beautiful. Partnering with Campus Environmental Center, Office of Sustainability, and Housing and Dining to educate incoming students during summer orientations. Partnering with the Student-Athlete Advisory Council for various events including a zero waste initiative in our student-athlete dining hall and a gently used shoe collection drive for student-athletes going on a summer mission trip.
Website URL where information about the green athletics program is available:
Optional Fields
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
https://sustainability.utexas.edu/conservation/water
https://texassports.com/news/2017/12/21/ut-athletics-texas-athletics-sustainability-continues-to-improve-its-zero-waste-efforts-at-darrell-k-royal-texas-memorial-stadium.aspx
https://texassports.com/news/2017/12/21/ut-athletics-texas-athletics-sustainability-continues-to-improve-its-zero-waste-efforts-at-darrell-k-royal-texas-memorial-stadium.aspx
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.