Football | May 03, 2023

LOS ANGELES--USC has been named the winner of the Best Fan Engagement sub-category in the Pac-12 Zero Waste Challenge for the 2022 football season in the league-wide competition. This challenge began in 2016 to divert waste at home football games from landfills to recycling or composting.
 
This is USC's seventh overall or category victory across football and men's basketball.

In the 2022 football season, USC achieved 91.3% diversion rate for its Zero Waste game against Arizona State, including over three tons of recycling and over five tons of compost.

USC President Dr. Carol L. Folt was involved in the campaign and created a video message highlighting the Zero Waste Game, calling on all members of the Trojan community to do their part to help achieve the goal of zero waste.

The campaign included campus signage, website content, and social media posts, including "Waste Ed Wednesday," which provided waste disposal instructions to game attendees and campus tailgaters. A gameday central page was also created with Green tailgating tips and sustainability resources, as well as expectations for the Zero Waste Game.

Sustainability highlights were displayed at all concession stands and on premium suite digital screens, and Zero Waste content and single-use plastic elimination information were showcased on the video board.

Colorado won the overall award in the Zero Waste Challenge for the 2022 football season, and earning other sub-category recognitions were Utah (Rising Star) and Arizona State (Innovation).
 
This is Colorado's third football Zero Waste Challenge overall win (also winning in 2018 and 2019), which ties USC's record for most overall wins during football season (2016, 2017 and 2021). 
 
All four schools will be recognized for their victories during a special awards ceremony at the 2023 Pac-12 Sustainability Conference, hosted by Stanford from June 21-22. For more information on the conference and to register, visit Pac-12.com/sustainability.
 
More information on the Pac-12 Zero Waste Challenge is available at Pac-12.com/teamgreen.