Courtesy of Johnson & Wales University:
Thanks to the efforts of JWU students, recycling of aluminum, plastic and glass has increased more than 60 percent at the home of the Denver Broncos.
In summer 2008, the operations staff at Sports Authority Field at Mile High approached faculty at The Hospitality College and the Center for Sports/Entertainment/Event Management about helping the Broncos organization and the environment. While recycling aluminum, glass and plastic within the stadium was successful, tailgaters were not doing as well in the stadium's parking lots. Eager to get industry experience, students involved with the campus' Sports/Entertainment/Event Management program jumped at the opportunity to help bolster efforts.
Enter the Green Team. Over several months, led by instructor Sean Daly and student manager Zack Staarman, the group staged seven events, putting 644 hours of work into tackling their mission. The marked rise in recycling won high praise.
"Our partnership with Johnson & Wales University and the efforts and strong interest level of the students who make up the Sports Authority Field Green Team has been a large factor in the improvement made this season where we have about double the amount of materials recycled per Denver Broncos game from that in 2007," Matt Shine, Sports Authority Field parking and site manager says. "The students have been fantastic to work with and our customers have truly enjoyed interacting and learning from them each home game."
The program and Green Team are spurring interest from other venues around Colorado.
