By J.B. Smith

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Baylor University’s garbage game plan for tonight’s football opener at Floyd Casey Stadium is an all-out blitz to get spectators to spike their plastic bottles into the recycling bin.

Baylor is using the game against Wake Forest to kick off an aggressive recycling campaign for all its sports events. The university will set out no fewer than 90 recycling bins in the stands, concourses, skyboxes and locker rooms at Floyd Casey stadium. Fans can expect recycling reminders from loudspeakers and the video screen, and even the radio broadcast. Vendors also are being urged to recycle cardboard, paper and plastic.

Plastic items left in the stands after the games also will be collected and recycled.

By the end of the school year, Baylor aims to recycle at least 110,000 plastic bottles from sports events — half the total produced.

“If we can catch 110,000, we’ll consider this a success,” said Carl Flynn, spokesman for Baylor’s University Sustainability Committee. “If we can blow the roof off that and capture more, so much the better.”

About half of Big 12 schools recycle at games, but Baylor hopes to outdo them all.

“We’re really the first ones to try to actively promote it the way we’re doing,” Flynn said. “The overall vision is about responsibility. We have been called to be good stewards of our resources.”

Flynn said Baylor deserves a most-improved-player award when it comes to recycling. Until early this year, there was no campuswide recycling initiative. Then in February, under the leadership of Baylor administrator Pattie Orr, the university set out 145 mixed-use recycling containers in every residence hall. This summer, public areas such as libraries and student centers got recycling bins, and outdoor bins are coming soon.

Last week, as Baylor students moved in, the university tallied 12.4 tons of recyclables collected, compared with 9.3 tons in all of August 2007.

Meanwhile, Baylor’s food service provider, Aramark, has begun an effort to cut down on food waste and water use. And university officials believe they can ultimately triple the amount of recycling the university does, Flynn said.

“This is simply the right thing to do,” Flynn said. “It’s very much in accord with the university mission. Ultimately, it creates a better community.”

jbsmith@wacotrib.com

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