Recyclemania Sarah Zou, SPROUTS (Student Projects Redefining Our University's Trash Sustaina- bly); Hanna Miller, Waste Audits; Kristen Klein ZWRC (Zero Waste Research Center)

Recyclemania is an 8 week, waste-reduction and recycling competition with over 400 universities and colleges participating nationwide. UC Berkeley is participating in both the 2014 Grand Championship, which compares overall campus diversion rates, and the 2014 Zero Waste Basketball Game division, which focuses on the trash of one event. UC Berkeley won the 2013 Zero Waste basketball event, achieving the highest diversion rate during the Cal vs Stanford game.

The CRRS staff and SPROUTS hosted an interactive recycling game for kids in Spieker Plaza and an informational table inside Haas Pavilion. The staff and other green-minded volunteers from various clubs “trash talked” with Cal fans, educating them on waste diversion and sustainable practices. Fans “caught green handed” (recycling and composting correctly) as well as fans who hashtagged #calzerowaste were entered into a lottery to win sustainable prizes from Cal Dining. For halftime, two student contestants raced against each other in a recycling and composting toss to educate spectators on which concessions products could be recycled or composted.

A waste audit of the landfill waste generated at the game was completed to analyze the waste stream and determine which items were not correctly diverted. Some problem items included the souvenir cups, pom-poms, hot dog wrappers, and popcorn. The audit assisted in diverting an additional 115.5 lbs of compost and 45 lbs of recycling were diverted from the landfill.

The CRRS staff and SPROUTS team worked with various campus departments to make the March 8, 2014 Men's basketball game a Zero Waste Game:

Cal Dining: ensured all concessions sold during the game were recyclable or compostable, and generously donated prizes for the halftime activity.

Cal Athletics: planned an interactive recycling halftime game, ensured that adequate recycling and composting infrastructure was in place, and provided a marketing opportunity with the Cal Men's Basketball team.

Day Of the Game:

After the Game:

Non-­‐recyclable  Plas/cs  3%  

Mixed  Paper  7%   Metal  and  

Glass  5%  

Recyclable  Plas/cs  6%  

Landfill  33%  

Compost  46%