Written by: Chelsea Cannon

The NFL Environmental Program boasts its green initiative at Met Life Stadium for the game this coming Sunday. This plan to reduce reuse and recycle can certainly extend to the fans watching the game at home. College students across the country will be throwing game day parties this Sunday, which can cost money and produce a plethora of waste. Luckily you do not have to spend as much on products that will ultimately be thrown away. Here are some simple tips that can help eliminate waste and conserve energy even during a large gathering.

  1. DIY project: take old football t-shirts and patch them together to make a custom blanket, banner, or tapestry. This way you don’t need to buy and eventually throw out any store bought paper or plastic decorations at the end of the night. Plus this is a project you can add to and use every year!
  2. Mention in your Facebook invite that guests should bring their own sports mug for drinks. You can even make it into a friendly competition to see who has the best mug or beer glass! This will eliminate the waste of plastic or Styrofoam cups. Recycle all cans and glass or bottles.
  3. It helps to buy in bulk because it eliminates packaging waste. Snack mixes are a great idea. One of my favorite snack ideas involves making your own “super bowl” out of Chex Mix. Check it out here!
  4. Eliminate the need for forks immediately by preparing finger foods. Specifically, make your own pizza. Most people already have the ingredients for pizza in their kitchen, and it is easy to make. Did you know that grease stained pizza delivery boxes usually cannot be recycled? (You could compost it but I doubt many college students have that capability.)- Another great environmentally friendly finger food option is slider burgers, which use 50% less meat.
  5. Finally, what to do with all of your chip or snack bags? If throwing big parties with solo cups and snacks is your thing, consider joining either the TerraCycle Snack Bag or Solo Cup Brigade. When becoming a Brigade member, you send in all your product waste by simply printing a shipping label from your account. We award points and have prize incentives throughout the year.

This weekend the sky will be lit up in the Broncos and Seahawks colors. Fans will bleed Orange or Green. But let’s all bleed green for the planet.  Have fun, be safe, and help work towards a cleaner planet on Sunday!

For more ways to eliminate the idea of waste at parties, check out these suggestions

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