UGA club, volunteers to collect game day trash

No doubt there will be plenty of trash talk when the Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets take the field in Athens on Saturday, but some students are planning to make sure there’s less actual trash.

Led by the University of Georgia’s Ecology Club, dozens of volunteers will collect bottles and cans for recycling, as they have done at each home game this year.

The students wanted to divert trash from the local landfill, which is nearly full to capacity, said Mark Milby, ecology club co-president.

“The volume of waste produced on game day is unimaginable,” he said.

All aluminum goes to Habitat for Humanity to help fund homes in Athens and Clarke County. The club expects the season’s haul of cans will net about $1,000 for the charity.

Initially the students funded the project by passing the hat among club members. Now they are getting some funding from the university’s alumni association and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The university’s physical plant staff has been supportive, Milby said, and the Athens-Clarke County recycling division furnishes bags and bins.

Club leaders hope the university will continue and expand the effort, perhaps contracting with a company to do the recycling.

So far this season, the ecology club has collected more than 4 tons of cans and bottles, Milby said.

But they’re behind their in-state rivals. Georgia Tech — whose program is older and larger — has surpassed 10 tons of recyclables this season.