An important step to reduce the university’s environmental footprint involves the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA). The Urbana campus is home to 11 major athletic complexes seating up to 84,000 spectators. Joining the Green Sports Alliance would allow us to share resources, experiences, and best practices through a collaborative network of sports organizations. The Alliance focuses primarily on seven program initiatives: energy, food, procurement, transportation, venues, waste, and water. Joining the Alliance would help promote an eco-friendly environment for our teams, venues, athletes, and fans. 

In keeping with our national position as a sustainability leader among land-grant universities, merging our environmental efforts and strong athletic culture is an enormously effective step. Outside of graduation and student welcoming ceremonies, DIA hosts the largest on-campus gatherings each year. Thus, these events provide great opportunities to reach a large, captive audience with sustainability messaging. Joining the Green Sports Alliance reflects our commitment to elevate environmental awareness where it counts. Through a partnership with DIA, we can reduce water and energy consumption, cut down on waste, promote natural resource management, and pursue a complementary Illinois identity of sporting excellences and sustainability leadership.