Kicking off the 2008 season (of Tiger Tailgate Recycling)

Mizzou students, parents, and faculty are now piling through the glorious gates of Faurot field to participate in a great MU sports tradition…fun, football games, and tailgating…while Sustain Mizzou volunteers are bravely reporting for duty for the 2nd most significant sports tradition…Tiger Tailgate Recycling!

With 31 sustainers, 85.84 volunteer hours, 62,305 Mizzou fans, 2 loaves of bread, 1 container of hummus, 42 latex gloves and only one Steve Burdic, were able to recycle 2.24 tons plastic, glass and aluminum. That is just as an amazing start to the season as a score of 52-3. Despite the campaigns of aluminum pirates (disguised as pick-ups) to thwart our recycling efforts by pillaging our bins and bags, despite the unfortunate event of a miscommunication with MU waste management resulting in the improper disposal of two parking lots of recyclables, despite the threat of looming thunderstorms leading to an early end of TTR, despite having a majority of greenhorn sustainers (which I was incredibly happy to see so many new people interested, keep it up!), despite all that challenged us Sustain Mizzou volunteers were still able to sacrifice their sweat, blood (seriously, we had an accident) and hygiene to yield an impressive quantity of containers.

But it seems we can do better. We have the support from the fans (they can’t get enough of the green team), we have incredible volunteers, fantastic sponsors and most importantly the motivation from within to make a difference. Therefore, let’s rock the recycling this season and really make a positive impact on the sustainability movement in Columbia and at Mizzou by recycling tons (literally) of containers and educating the community about environmental responsibility.

Thank you to everyone who helps out with TTR (especially those willing to wake up before 8am).