sustainability projects

SUSTAINABILITY IN INVOLVEMENT

My passion for sustainability, in coordination with the generosity of large corporations, has allowed me to make sustainable changes in organizations I am involved with.

The Redcoat Band:

As a member of the Redcoat Marching Band for the previous three years, I noticed a glaring problem in our rehearsal system- single use cups for water breaks. During each rehearsal, styrofoam cups are filled for us to drink at water breaks. Because we do not have much time at the breaks, the cups are pre-filled and each member just grabs a cup. Resultantly, at every rehearsal, the Redcoat Marching Band uses around 200 styrofoam cups. Over the course of a season, we use approximately 30,000 styrofoam cups.

As a solution, I reached out to Rubicon Global, a sustainability company located in Atlanta, Georgia. I proposed a sustainability grant to fund the purchase of reusable water bottles. From this idea, the design above was drafted and 450 water bottles were donated to the UGA Redcoat Band for usage beginning in the Fall 2019 season.

Football Game Days:

In Fall 2018, I had the privilege of serving as the Game Day Zero Waste Intern for the UGA Office of Sustainability. Through this internship, I selected a team of Game Day Ambassadors who served as leaders for teams of volunteers who encouraged game attendees and tailgaters to recycle eligible materials.

Whenever I accepted this position, the question I always received was: “Are you still doing Redcoats?”, to which the answer was YES! To facilitate this program, I would arrive early before games to set up a tailgate that had trash bags, recycling bags, and banners containing information regarding recycling (as pictured). I would then attend rehearsal for the Redcoat Band, then return to the tailgate to work with the volunteers for two hours prior to kick-off. Once the volunteers were off, I would return to my responsibilities with the band. After the game had ended, I would return to the tailgate to calculate metrics (such as how many bags were distributed, volunteers participated, etc.) and to collect the materials.

Encouraging tailgaters to dispose of their trash appropriately was pretty simple- if you are attending a football game, you care about the University of Georgia, and should want to take care of it. Remember this on game days: trash our competition, NOT our campus!

Related articles:
-https://www.redandblack.com/uganews/a-greener-game-day-internship-program-takes-aim-at-football/article_557dc45c-ba21-11e8-b063-6f799ce50ffd.html

-https://sustainability.uga.edu/sustainable-game-day-ambassadors-connect-with-tailgaters-on-game-days/