It’s Low Waste Time in Tennessee!
Neyland Stadium. Photo by Visit Knoxville.
It’s football time in Tennessee, and across town, fans are donning their orange, flying their Tennessee Vols pennants, and filling up their fridges with game day treats, preparing for what will hopefully be an exciting football season! There are so many ways to cheer on the Vols (or your own team of choice), and whether you’re headed to Neyland or watching from home, there are also many ways to make sure that your fan experience is low waste.
LOW WASTE AT NEYLAND
With new renovations that will debut this season, Neyland Stadium now holds 101,915 fans. It is the fifth largest stadium in the United States, and the seventh largest stadium in the world. When the stadium is full, it equates to the fourth most populated city in Tennessee. All those fans can create a lot of waste! In 2019, fans produced 260.19 tons (about 573,600 lbs) of total waste across its eight home football games.
One contributor to all this waste was the introduction of alcohol sales in 2019. When first introduced, bartenders were required to open the can of beer and then pour it into a plastic cup. Since this created unnecessary waste, the Office of Sustainability at UT campaigned to cut the waste in half. Now, bartenders can open the can of beer and hand it directly to the customer without pouring it into a plastic cup. This simple change cut the alcohol waste in half!
Waste Warriors at UT games. Photo by UT Office of Sustainability.
For fans wanting to find other ways to help keep games low waste, Neyland Stadium allows fans to bring their own clear, empty water bottle and then fill it up inside. This is an eco-friendly action that will also save fans from having to purchase pricey, single-use bottles of water.
As well, make sure you are properly disposing of your waste during the games! There are landfill, recycling, and compost bins at the stadium, so make sure you properly dispose of your waste in the correct bins. Beer cans, water bottles, and pizza boxes can go in the recycling. Any food waste can go in the compost bin. For anything else – remember when in doubt, throw it out!
LOW WASTE WHEN TAILGATING
If you’re enjoying the game outside the stadium at a tailgate, there are also lots of ways to be low waste!
Volunteers with the Office of Sustainability (look for their green Waste Warrior shirts) have green bags for recycling available for tailgaters to use before the start of each home game. The Waste Warriors walk around each tailgating area before the game passing out bags, so make sure to get one from them! After you fill up your bag with plastic bottles, cans, and clean cardboard, tie them up and either place them in a nearby recycling dumpster (ask the Waste Warrior for the nearest dumpster) or you can leave them on the ground for Waste Warriors to collect after the game.
Tailgating before the game. Photo by Home Marketing Group.
Pick up any litter your tailgate might leave behind. We are all proud of this beautiful Tennessee community, and we always want to leave places more beautiful than we found them! Instead of leaving behind any leftover waste from your tailgate, you can recycle using the above mentioned Waste Warrior recycling bags.
When preparing food and drinks for your tailgate, pick low waste options. Bring reusable cups and plates so that they don’t have to be thrown out after the game, but can be used again for your next tailgate!
Offer plant based options. Whether it be grilling veggie burgers or having a fruit and vegetable snack tray, there are lots of ways to introduce plant based foods onto the tailgating menu. Check out some of these vegetarian recipes that you can include at your next tailgate!
Thrift your orange. Orange abounds in Knoxville, making it pretty easy to find all sorts of Vol jerseys, T-shirts, and accessories at local thrift stores. Even if it isn’t a UT shirt, you can often finds things in a similar shade of orange that will do the trick!
Carpool with your gameday companions. Or better yet, walk to the game! If walking isn’t an option, KAT provides shuttle services that go around downtown Knoxville (and even has a pick up location from Farragut High School!) on game days. Parking is always a nightmare downtown on game days, so avoid the headache by choosing to walk or take public transport.
No matter how you choose to celebrate gameday, there are so many ways to be low waste while cheering on the Vols!