As another game day comes and goes, so does the blanket of trash that remains from Saturday tailgates. Yet, somehow, it all disappears by Monday morning.
The efforts of the University’s Campus Sustainability department, born out of student demand in 2008, is largely behind this extensive clean-up effort from week to week and throughout the year.
At the Keep Louisiana Beautiful state conference held Friday in downtown Baton Rouge, Tammy Millican, the assistant director of Facility Services at the University, highlighted student and faculty efforts to keep the University’s campus and community clean.
After receiving a $10,000 grant from KLB in 2012, the University purchased 1,000 new large recycling bins to help implement sustainability programs on game days and throughout the year.
At the conference, Millican highlighted the achievements of the Recycling Tigers, a group of student volunteers who visit with tailgaters on game days, educating them about recycling and passing out recycling bags to tailgates.
The response to the Recycling Tigers who spoke with tailgaters last year on America Recycles Day was positive, Millican said. She said tailgaters were impressed with their efforts and many agreed to make recycling part of their tailgating and practice at home.
“We are changing the social norm,” Millican said. “People are teaching litter awareness earlier in schools, and soon they [students] are only going to know a time when throwing a piece of trash on the ground is a big problem.”
Millican said the KLB grant has led to other campus clean-up projects led by students like the Krewe D’Bris, which is made up of a group of volunteers who help pick up campus on Sundays.
The University also participates in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Game Day Challenge, a friendly competition among universities across the country that promotes waste reduction during one home football game a year. LSU has been number one in the SEC for the past three years.
Other sustainability efforts include Unplug LSU, which is a national competition that challenges residential communities on campus to conserve energy and water; Spring Greening Day, a day in which students, faculty and staff work together to improve the University grounds; Fall Fest, where students are educated about recycling; and Project Clean Plate, which encourages the reduction of food waste in the dining halls.
These programs and many more are part of the University’s goal to create and maintain a better campus environment for future generations.
“This generation is amazing and passionate about the things on this earth,” Millican said. “These students can speak with other students about litter awareness, and we are thankful for the amazing things that have come from these projects.”