During our annual Alumni Weekend festivities, the department welcomed students, alumni, faculty and staff at the family-friendly McKetta Tailgate ahead of the Texas vs. Florida game. For the second year in a row, and with the support of UT Austin's Resource Recovery team, the department achieved a zero-waste event. The McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering is the only department to work with The University of Texas at Austin’s Resource Recovery team to achieve such a feat.
The tailgate, traditionally held outside the chemical engineering building three hours prior to kick-off, gathered 350+ people to enjoy breakfast tacos, coffee and mimosas, free student-designed McKetta tee shirts (while they lasted!), and even our very own Bevo*!
The Team Effort
30+ student volunteers were trained on sorting waste at the tailgate. On game-day they managed the various recycle, compost, and trash-bin stations throughout the venue and chatted with guests about the mission. Gebby’s BBQ helped craft a menu that would reduce waste, catering assorted breakfast tacos and fresh fruit. Plates, cutlery and cups were compostable.
While the zero-waste initiative was not free, the department prioritized the effort by including costs into the event’s budget and making decisions upstream to support the goals. Senior Events and Development Coordinator Laurea Irving engaged Gebby’s BBQ and Resource Recovery’s Zero Waste Program Coordinator, Morgan Laner, early in the process. Morgan’s team provided guidance through counsel, training and game-day support. Post-event, Morgan provided a detailed list of achievements, specifically what we gathered by weight, and included opportunities for improvement for next year and beyond.
8.1 Pounds of Trash
Once the bins’ contents were counted, we achieved a 94% diversion rate, only 6% of the trash our revelers generated will end up in a landfill. Specifically, we achieved:
- 5lbs – total compost
- 2lbs – total recycling
- 3lbs – total specialty recycling
- 1lbs – landfill trash
While Quinn Ewers passed for 333 yards and 5 touchdowns, we’d like to think we (our volunteers and guests) were the big winners of the day. *And, special thanks to Moe and his brother Joe, who came out with Ben the Longhorn. They sure made a lot of folks happy.
