Why wrestling programs should consider their impact on waste reduction efforts
If you didn’t know, April 22nd is Earth Day. We live on a beautiful planet with landscapes as diverse as the population. At Transition Wrestling we think everyday should be lived Earth consciously, but we’re glad to see one day collectively recognized by all.
But why write about Earth Day on a wrestling news site? Well, wrestling events have an impact on waste reduction efforts and programs have a social and environmental responsibility to ask some tough questions.
Many sporting events and sports programs support the consumption and production of waste-heavy products. This is not surprising given the concession-order, convenience driven, nature of competitive sport events. Athletes and coaches are focused on performance; spectators are focused on matches in the venue. Depending on geographic location, lack of infrastructure or exposure, you might not think too much about your seemingly small impact toward our Country’s waste reduction efforts. Multiplied by the depth of diversity found in women’s wrestling, “athletic events offer a great opportunity for engaging with a large, diverse crowd that may or may not be familiar with sustainability issues” (Hoover).
Wrestling’s Contribution to the Problem
The night before competition, coaches or athletes stock up on large packs of bottled water and other sports drinks. With an average team having ten athletes, ten teams competing and each athlete consuming one bottle of water or sports type drink, that’s a minimum of 100 plastic bottles.
How many venues have you been to with completely filled trash bins combining food scraps, plastics and other waste? Some collegiate venues don’t provide recycling as an option for their students or faculty. Whether their resources have been allocated elsewhere, the infrastructure for disposal is not in place or the accessibility of recycling is inconvenient, many host schools could be better about separating waste. But, it likely means that all the plastic bottles we purchase for wrestling tournaments have nowhere to go but the trash. With a plastic island growing larger than the size of Texas in our Pacific Ocean, we can’t be putting plastic bottles in the trash.
Simple Solutions
When we see an athlete excelling on the mat, in the zone, we are watching a manifestation of their preparation. “The conscious practice of routines leads to the unconscious habits of success” (Mack, 2001). This holds true in all areas of our lives. So, waste reduction efforts we care about in our day-to-day lives need to be prepared for prior to competition — where we feel the actual impact and emotion of the environmental devastation around us. It’s close to impossible, and maybe even illogical to live waste-free. But even if it’s only 10–15 plastic bottles per team, per competition, that amount multiplies quickly. Students and event facilitators can help direct a path of habitual sustainability through diligence and commitment to using reusable products.
Coaches
- Provide reusable water bottles as part of your gear package, or require that your athletes have their personal favorite on hand at all practices and competitions.
- Purchase mixable packets for sports drinks during competition vs. bottles.
- Your team’s 10–15 plastic bottles add up.
Athletes
- If you have different drinks to mix up (Gatorades, BCAAS, etc.) do your part and bring two reusable bottles.
- Invest in re-fillable shampoo/soap containers instead of purchasing several plastic travel size amenities per year.
- If you have to use a plastic bottle(s), recycle it, or shove it in your bag to bring back to your school’s recycling center.
Host schools
- Provide access to water-filling stations and have someone in charge of ensuring its accessibility throughout the day. Shauna Kemp & the Jamestown Jimmies did a great job keeping their water-filling station loaded through the inaugural NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Invitational.
- Ensure the availability of a clearly marked recycling bin at your event and announce its location prior to competition. “Mats are set up from left to right as 1, 2 & 3; also, there are recycling bins located at the front end of the gym”.
- For more of an impact, consider reading and sharing lessons from this article with your administration: Sports 1, Waste Zero: Tackling Trash at Stadiums and Arenas.
- Explore different options, such as raising the entry fees by $1–5 and provide large containers of pre-mixed sports drinks.
Everyone can evaluate their impact on waste reduction efforts. By purchasing certain avoidable plastics and convenience items we are sending a message to the producers: “make more of this product, we’ll buy it”. If we stop or greatly minimize the purchase of convenience items and use them strictly on a dire need basis we are sending a different message: “we do not support the production of this product, we will only buy it when absolutely necessary”. We, the consumer, have the ability to impact the market one purchase at a time; we just have to be mindful of our planning.
The Difference
If women’s collegiate wrestling programs stopped purchasing large packs of bottled water during the 2019-2020 season, a quick low-end guesstimate shows that our community could reduce the use of plastic bottles by a minimum of 4,000. (50 teams x 10 athletes x 8 competitions = 4,000)
Change can’t happen if we ignore problem habits when it’s inconvenient and challenging. When we put our athletes on the path to sustainability, they are more likely to leave their collegiate programs more aware of how to navigate the challenges of planning for convenience purchase situations that increase negative impact. The majority of our lives are lived outside of competition. Why would be succumb to poor habits for one day when a little planning can curb a big impact?
Let’s be great examples of social and environmental responsibility while we help direct each class of young adults into the future. What we, the collective, promote on the mats and through years of competition will be learned values and habits off the mats.
We can’t wait until it’s convenient to care about our impact.
Reduce, Reuse & Recycle.
