Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 73.84
Liaison Andrew Horning
Submission Date Dec. 19, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Michigan
IN-16: Green Athletics

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 0.50 Kenneth Keeler
Senior Sustainability Rep
Office of Campus Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution’s green athletics program include the following?:
Yes or No
Zero waste and/or carbon neutral athletic events Yes
A stadium or arena certified under a green building rating system Yes
A sustainable food and beverage purchasing program that includes athletic event vendors and concessions Yes
A program to minimize the sustainability impacts of turf management (e.g., by installing low input turfgrass or environmentally preferable artificial turf) Yes
A program to support more sustainable transportation options for athletic events Yes
Community engagement efforts, e.g. to educate students and fans/supporters about the institution’s sustainability initiatives Yes
An athletic team certification program No

A brief description of the institution’s green athletics program:
Zero Waste Athletic Events:
The University of Michigan Athletic Department is striving toward zero waste at Michigan Stadium in 2019. The effort supports the campus-wide sustainability effort known as Planet Blue and builds on the more than 20-year history of recycling gameday waste at Michigan Stadium. Zero waste is an aspirational goal of diverting at least 90 percent of waste from the landfill by recycling and composting (http://mgoblue.com/sports/2017/6/16/sustainability-recycling-html.aspx)

Green Building: LEED-NC Silver certified Ross Athletic Campus Athletics South Competition and Performance Project: http://umaec.umich.edu/ProjectSustainability/sustainabilityP00008932.pdf

Sustainable Food: U-M has a sustainability goal to purchasing 20% of its food in accordance with U-M sustainable food purchasing guidelines. The U-M Sustainable Food Guideline defines sustainable food purchasing practice for the University of Michigan, including food purchased for athletic events including vendors and concessions: http://docs.google.com/document/d/1kmofOkOQ8glzCUVFjglBUXseoS2VInEgFWyC18Hu05M/edit

Groundskeeping: The U-M Athletics Department follows sustainable practices such as participating in the university chemical reduction goal, using moisture meters and a variable frequency drive pump station for more precise water application. A number of Athletic departments including both golf courses and the various ball fields around campus are certified by the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program: http://mgoblue.com/sports/2017/6/16/sustainability-initiatives-um-golf-course-html.aspx

Sustainable transportation options for athletic events: The University of Michigan provides complimentary shuttle service, which includes a limited number of wheelchair accessible shuttles, for guests with a disability to and from several parking lots and Michigan Stadium. The shuttles are available both before and after home football games.

Community Engagement: U-M athletics hosts a sustainability page on the MGoBLue web site to inform fans about sustainability efforts in our athletic events: https://mgoblue.com/sports/2017/6/16/sustainability.aspx Signage placed throughout the football stadium and other sporting facilities helps encourage fans to be a part of the U-M waste reduction effort.

Website URL where information about the green athletics program is available:

Optional Fields 

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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