Green Awareness Day at Rentschler Field, September 11th, 2010
Rentschler Field held its second annual Green Awareness Day on September 11, 2010. The day coincided with UConn's game against the Texas Southern University Tigers, which the Huskies won by a score of 62-3.
Over thirty students from EcoHusky and EcoHouse arrived at the stadium before 8 a.m. to promote recycling to tailgaters and to fans within the stadium. An estimated eight tons of garbage is produced at each Husky home game, much of which can be recycled. The Department of Athletics has been very receptive to the idea of making their program more sustainable.
Students were stationed at waste containers encouraging fans to use the adjacent recycling bins for bottles and cans. Some students also spread awareness by passing out information on recycling e-waste. For the first time, a "Caught Green-Handed" program was held. A few random recyclers who were caught in the act were given free t-shirts that further encouraged recycling.
Participating students helped gather recyclables from full bins later in the day and ultimately got to go home after the game, eight hours after they had begun their day.
Green Game Days at Gampel Pavilion and The XL Center: February 6th and 22nd, 2010
On February 6th, 2010 a group of volunteer EcoHusky and EcoHouse students manned the can at Gampel Pavilion as the UConn men's basketball team took on DePaul University. In order to aid in EcoHusky's annual Sneaker Recycling Drive, collection bins for old sneakers were placed at each entrance as well. Over 400 pairs of sneakers were collected and were made a part of EcoHusky's Mt. Sneaker when the collection drive ended in April. All the collected sneakers are donated to the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe program and will be turned into athletic and playground surfaces.
In late February, the volunteers travelled to the XL Center in Hartford for the first ever "Green Game Day" at this venue. While the Huskies took on the West Virginia Mountaineers, volunteers were on hand to help educate UConn basketball fans of proper recycling techniques at the XL Center.