UNL is asking fans to volunteer to "Go Green for Big Red" during a nationwide Game Day Recycling Challenge. At the next Husker home game on Oct. 27 against the Michigan Wolverines, UNL will be taking part in the Environmental Protection Agency-sponsored Game Day Challenge, competing against 72 other universities to see who recycles the most during a game day.
Volunteers are asked to contact UNL's recycling coordinators to register their interest. Volunteers will meet at 5:30 p.m. on the west side of Sheldon Museum of Art, and then follow a group leader to the assigned parking lots where they will collect green bags and take them to the nearest recycling bin. Each volunteer will work at least two hours. A T-shirt, water bottle, and free lunch will be provided. Kickoff for the Oct. 27 game is 7 p.m.
For the Game Day Challenge college and universities across the country compete at one home football game for "green" bragging rights. The competition covers five categories: Total Recycling, Diversion Rate, Green House Gas Reduction, Waste Reduction and Organic Recycling. Last year more than 75 colleges and universities participated, and 2.7 million fans diverted nearly 500,000 pounds of waste from football games, which prevented more than 810 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released. The greenhouse gas emissions avoided is equal to removing 159 passenger vehicles from the road for one year.
Throughout the season, UNL's "Go Green for Big Red" effort offers tailgaters around the Memorial Stadium an easy and convenient opportunity to recycle. During the first four games, the effort resulted in recycling more than 7,000 pounds of plastic, aluminum, glass and cardboard. A total of 225 volunteer hours was contributed by 85 students and community members. Volunteers are needed at all games, not just the Game Day Challenge game.
UNL Landscape Services teams up with Recycling Enterprise and Sustain UNL to collect recyclables outside the stadium including Champions Club. The effort to collect recyclables inside the stadium will be conducted by Husker Athletics, ROTC, and Recycling Enterprise following the game.
"This is a big opportunity for the university to showcase its sustainability efforts. By offering green bags to tailgaters and collecting them after the game, our goal is to make recycling easy. This is one of the many programs that UNL has to be an environmentally friendly campus," said Prabhakar Shrestha, UNL recycling co-coordinator.
Interested volunteers can contact Shrestha or Jeff Henson, recycling coordinators, at 402-472-9139 or by email at recycling@unl.edu