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EPA's Game Day Challenge Tally: 11 Midwest Universities Divert 130,000 Pounds of Waste from Landfills

Release Date: 01/25/2011
Contact Information: Mick Hans, 312-353-5050, [email protected]

For Immediate Release
No. 11-OPA008

CHICAGO – January 25, 2011

The results are in: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 Game Day Challenge college football competition diverted 130,000 pounds of waste material from landfills in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. This achievement prevented the release of 181 metric tons of carbon dioxide — equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 31 cars.

“Notre Dame won the Challenge in the Upper Midwest, diverting 37,600 pounds of waste for the Green Team,” said Bruce Sypniewski, Director of EPA Region 5’s Land and Chemical Division. “All 11 schools that participated in the Challenge are winners in EPA’s book for tackling waste at one of their home games.”

Universities in the Region 5 states that participated in the Challenge: Bowling Green State University, Central Michigan University, Illinois State University, Indiana University, Northwestern University, Ohio University, Purdue University, the Ohio State University, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota and University of Notre Dame.

During the month of October, each school tracked the amount of recycled, composted, reused, donated and/or disposed of waste during one home football game. The competition was sponsored by EPA’s WasteWise program, a voluntary effort through which organizations eliminate costly municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes, benefitting their bottom line and the environment. Launched in 1994, the program has more than 2,700 members.

The results of the 2010 Game Day Challenge, by participating school:

School	Opponent (Date)	Recycled (LBS)	Food Donations (LBS)	Composting (LBS)	Total Diverted Material (lbs)	Diverted Material per attendee (Lbs.)
Illinois State University	North Dakota State (October 16, 2010)	5,560			5,560	0.73
University of Notre Dame	University of Pittsburgh (October 9, 2010)	37,600			37,600	0.47
Ohio University	University of Akron (October, 16, 2010)	7,927		350	8,277	0.38
The Ohio State University	Purdue University (October, 23, 2010)	33,440			33,440	0.32
University of Minnesota	Penn State University (October, 23, 2010)	6,760	75	2,620	9,455	0.27
Bowling Green State University	University at Buffalo (October 2, 2010)	3,172			3,172	0.22
Indiana University	Northwestern University (October 30, 2010)	7,000	101		7,101	0.19
Northwestern University	Michigan State University (October 23, 2010)	6,107			6,107	0.15
University of Michigan	Michigan State University (October 9, 2010)	15,000			15,000	0.13
Purdue University	University of Minnesota (October, 16, 2010)	4,820			4,820	0.10
Central Michigan University	Bowling Green State University (October 30, 2010)	340			340	0.02
	Total	127,726	176	2,970	130,872

Nationally, 79 colleges and universities participated in the Game Day Challenge. The schools together diverted more than 500,000 pounds of waste from landfills, which prevented the release of 940 metric tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 179 cars.

More information on the Game Day Challenge: https://www.epa.gov/gameday