Students work to revamp tailgate, focus on environment

Across from Memorial Stadium in the dewy, rolling tailgate fields sat a half-eaten sloppy joe among the acres of garbage student volunteers had the task of cleaning Sunday.

The volunteers — ranging from IU students to Bloomington residents — are coordinated by IU Athletics and brought in after every home football game to clear the fields.

Crews arrive at 7 a.m. the day after the game with barely enough natural light to see the piles of trash, and by mid-morning, the messy task
is complete.

“There’s not a lot to do on a Sunday morning,” said Eric Ress, junior and member of the IU swimming and diving team. “Most people just sleep.”

Among the items left by tailgaters this weekend included anti-Michigan T-shirts, umbrellas, political lawn signs, shoes, lawn chairs, uncooked hotdogs and even a full-sized charcoal grill.

Most of the trash, however, consisted of empty alcohol containers and plastic cups.

Ress said despite the enormity of the mess, he was more than happy to clean up.

“As a student athlete, I figure ‘Why not give back to the school?’ They give me so much,” Ress said.

Among Sunday’s volunteers were also groups from local high schools working to raise money. Shania Davis, a freshman from Edgewood High School in Ellettsville, was helping to fundraise for her softball team.

“This is kind of ridiculous,” Davis said after scanning the garbage-covered field. “Can people not pick up their own trash?”

Bryan Chovanec, senior and captain of the IU swimming and diving team, said he believes tailgaters could make a better effort to pick up after themselves.

“If people came back and saw this, they would be more careful,” Chovanec said. “People drive by the next day, and it’s gone. They don’t realize how much trash they leave.”

Matt Childress, a sophomore at Bloomington High School North, also said tailgaters could be more conscientious.

“It’s just bad in general to leave trash all over,” said Childress, who was cleaning to raise money for his swim team’s equipment. “It gives a bad image of the University.”

Currently, no recycling program exists for the tailgate clean up.

But starting after the Oct. 30 game against Northwestern, cleanup crews will separate recyclable items from ordinary trash.

The plan is part of the Greening Cream & Crimson initiative, coordinated in part by graduate student Isaac Farley.

Farley had an internship with the Office of Sustainability where he focused on making the athletic department “green.” This year, he is continuing his work with the
athletic department.

“Our goal is to reshape norms so all fans will take full responsibility for their trash and recyclables during the tailgating experience,” Farley said in an e-mail. “Luckily, we have a great fan base to build that momentum.”

IU Athletics also sponsored an Electronic Waste Collection Day in the stadium parking lot and the Hoosier to Hoosier Community Sale that worked to reduce move-out waste on Aug. 21.

For more information about the Greening Cream & Crimson initiative, visit http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/ot/greeningIU.html.