Tiger
Tailgate Recycling follow-up
Whitney Wallace, posted Dec. 7, 2006
As Mizzou’s starting line returns to the field to prepare
for their Dec. 29 game against the Oregon State Beavers in
the 73rd Annual Brut Sun Bowl, Tiger fans have a lot to cheer
about off the field as well. The completion of the home football
season marks the end of a successful year for the Tiger Tailgate
Recycling program, thanks to another team of hardworking volunteers.
These students may not be dressed in helmets and pads but
with just over 793 total volunteer hours and a collection
of 19.06 total tons of recycled materials compared to last
season’s 12 tons and 500 hours, these students have
stayed busy during this seven-game season. In fact, that total
tonnage figure came from the 276,450 individual containers
collected through the efforts of tailgating fans and student
volunteers with Sustain Mizzou, a student-led organization
also serving as the driving force behind Tiger Tailgate Recycling.
Adam Saunders, past president of the organization, explained
the club’s main purpose. “Sustain Mizzou focuses
on creating a more sustainable way of life at Mizzou through
local action and public education,” Saunders said.
Because of this goal, Tiger Tailgate Recycling incorporates
the efforts of the tailgaters with the volunteers. Students
deliver bags to tailgaters and also work with employees of
Campus Landscape Services to empty the 250 recycling bins
when full. These bins were provided through generous donations
from Mid-Missouri Solid Waste Management District, Anheuser-Busch
Recycling and Campus Landscape Services. Anheuser-Busch Recycling
also supports the program by donating the bags delivered to
each tailgating party. After each game the recycled items
were taken by the City of Columbia where they are sorted and
recycled accordingly.
This season averaged a collection of 2.7 tons per game. The
record-high game for the season was Sept. 30, 2006, when Missouri
played Colorado. The victory against the Buffaloes on the
field was great for Tiger fans as they were also victorious
around the field by helping recycle more than 3.7 tons throughout
the day.
According to Brad Hargrave, Tiger Tailgate Recycling coordinator
for Sustain Mizzou, the success of the program’s second
year is based on more than numbers. “These improvements
are terrific, but the success of Tiger Tailgate Recycling
does not lie in statistics alone,” Hargrave said. “This
program has diverted an unbelievable amount of waste from
our landfills, but it has also educated tailgaters of the
benefits of recycling and enabled them to recycle their own
waste using our convenient bag system.”
As Mizzou’s players and fans get geared up for the trip
to El Paso, the Tiger Tailgate Recycling program is also preparing
yet another victorious season. “We really try to focus
on leadership development and transition,” Saunders
said. “During the final three games we had three different
volunteers be the volunteer director and organize where all
the volunteers will go. We hope that this experience will
prepare these volunteers for leadership with TTR next fall.”
With a foundation in service and experience in leadership,
Tiger Tailgate Recycling seems to be headed in the right direction
for a third straight success.
