Athens, Ga. – “If you bring it in, please take it out.”That’s the mantra the University of Georgia is asking its football fans to adopt in an effort to control the amount of trash littering campus on a football Saturday. And if you can’t take it out, at least bag it and place it in a recycling bin, trash receptacle or dumpster.
“I believe the students, alumni and fans who attend UGA football games do love and respect this beautiful campus,” said UGA President Michael F. Adams.”And I fully expect that they will do their part to clean up after themselves and to ensure that others around them do the same.”
The university plans to distribute 12,000 trash bags in parking lots and around campus this Saturday before the Georgia Bulldogs play host to the Arizona State Sun Devils in a 7 p.m. kickoff.Volunteers from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes will walk through tailgating areas distributing trash bags and encouraging tailgaters to bag their trash and deposit it in an appropriate receptacle.The number of disposable trash boxes on North Campus will be increased to 400 from the previous 250, and over the entire campus to 1,500 from the previous 1,200.Several large roll-off dumpsters will be placed strategically around campus for tailgaters to dispose of their bagged trash.
Additionally, the firm that contracts to clean the campus on Sundays following a football game – American Stadium Services – will send crews on an initial sweep through North Campus during the first quarter of remaining games this season to pick up trash already collected and set aside by tailgaters.
The number of Port-a-Johns available on campus also will be increased, particularly in the North Campus area, which has been problematic.
“Before people head to the game for kickoff, we hope they’ll pick up around their tailgate area, bag the trash, and either place it in their vehicle to carry home or place it in one of our trash receptacles or dumpsters,” said George Stafford, associate vice president for auxiliary and administrative services, who oversees game day operations outside Sanford Stadium. Fans should encourage those around them to do the same, he added.”It will take the community working together to accomplish this,” he said.”People who profess to care about UGA should help take care of UGA.”
For more information about UGA’s game day recycling program, see http://sites.google.com/site/ugagamedayrecycling/.
