If you’ve been to a basketball or volleyball game this year, you’ve likely seen signs and bins asking you to return your reusable cup. Or you got a drink from the concession stand in a reusable cup, and you found the extra bin for its return.
This is the second year UW Athletics has used reusable cups, and this year the program has expanded. The Reusable Cup Program is a program working to reduce waste in the Alaska Airlines Arena, where thousands of beverages can be served in a single day to attendees. Drinks from the concession stands come in the reusable cups, which are returned to collection bins throughout the arena. The cups are collected, sanitized and redistributed by BoldReuse for future events. Although the idea behind the program itself is simple, the reality of operating a reuse system of this scale requires great coordination. Even more importantly, it takes strong community support.
At each game, sustainability volunteers have helped fans with sorting waste and directing people on how and where to return their cups. The role itself is intentionally accessible, with the most demand taking place during breaks and after the games when return stations see the most activity. Volunteers essentially get to attend games for free and receive a brief onboarding at the start of each shift thirty minutes before the event begins. RSOs are also encouraged to volunteer together and may be permitted to table at games to share their organization’s mission.
Volunteers have also played a crucial role in helping make the program more efficient and boosting return rates. For example, at a past game a miscommunication led to stands accidentally handing out the previous compostable cup instead of reusables. In cases such as these, volunteers can flag issues on the spot, which helps make sure that the program is running correctly and ensures our efforts are working toward our sustainability goals.
Overall, volunteer support and feedback ensures that the Reusable Cup Program continues to keep thousands of cups out of the waste stream. Small actions really can add up, especially when they are shared and compounded at a scale such as this one. Even volunteering just once can make a meaningful difference, both for the program and for the UW campus as a whole.
If you’ve ever wondered how sustainability actually works at large events or simply would like to be a part of improving it in real time, consider this to be your invitation. All students are welcome to volunteer. You’ll help educate fans before the game and during breaks, and get to watch the Huskies during the action.