Dave Newport, director of the Environmental Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, on one of the lessons he learned when he headed up the effort to make the Buffaloes’ home stadium (virtually) “zero waste.”

“We took all the trash cans out of the stadium,” he told the NYT, and replaced them with recycling and composting bins, but the signs explaining the sorting procedure were too wordy and the first two games were “just horrible,” according to Newport.  He stationed student volunteers near the bins during games to explain to sports fans which waste item goes where.

By the last four home games, they were recycling and composting 80% of their waste.  Their effort was on several fronts:

• They convinced their vendor to use more recyclable or compostable packaging.
• After the game, student volunteers and staff helped sort the waste — “sometimes until 2 a.m.,” said Newport.
• Army Reserve students picked up and sorted additional waste from the stands.

It’s a high-labor operation, but they’ve got a fantastic resource: dedicated student energy.  Students get exposure to an important field with green job growth opportunity.  After they graduate, they presumably won’t be looking for jobs sorting waste, but they will be designing recycling and composting systems and managing those who do.