The GameDay Football Zero Waste Touchdown Challenge is a nationwide competition among colleges and universities to reduce and recycle the waste generated at home football games.
Using equitable, just, and friendly competition, the GameDay Football Zero Waste Touchdown Challenge provides tools and opportunities that inspire, empower, and mobilize colleges and universities to benchmark and improve efforts to reduce and eliminate waste at home football games. As part of the Campus Race to Zero Waste program, GameDay Football challenges campuses nationwide to reduce the waste footprint of their home games and tailgating events through efforts including reduction of single-use plastics use, food waste recovery, use of reusable products, recycling, and more.
2025 Challenge Guidelines and Rules:
- Choose one home football game to track and report your recycling, food organics, and trash data in pounds. Please submit data for one home game only.
- Three categories will be available to participate in (campuses can participate in one or more of these categories):
- Diversion (track and report on trash, recycling and food organics generated). There will be two options for participating in the Diversion category
- Stadium + Tailgating
- In Stadium only
- Recycling Per Capita (track and report on cans/bottles, paper and cardboard in stadium; tailgating area is optional). Participants are encouraged to track and report recycling from tailgating events. An estimate of tailgating attendees will be requested during reporting, if participants are in addition to the attendance reported for total tickets sold and/or scanned.
- Food Organics Per Capita (track and report on organics donated, reused or composted in stadium; tailgating area is optional). Participants are encouraged to track and report food organics from tailgating events. An estimate of tailgating attendees will be requested during reporting, if participants are in addition to the attendance reported for total tickets sold and/or scanned.
- Diversion (track and report on trash, recycling and food organics generated). There will be two options for participating in the Diversion category
- Four winners will be chosen:
- Diversion – highest recycling rate of recycling/food organics diverted from the landfill
- Stadium + Tailgating
- Stadium Only
- Recycling Per Capita – highest generation of recyclables per capita
- Food Organics Per Capita – highest generation of food organics per capita
- Diversion – highest recycling rate of recycling/food organics diverted from the landfill
2025 Key Dates and Deadlines for the GameDay Football Challenge:
- November 17 (Monday): Last day to register for the GameDay Football Challenge
- November 29 (Saturday): Last day to hold a GameDay event
- December 12 (Friday): Last day to report ALL data
- January 28 (Wednesday): Winners announced
Register for 2025 GameDay Football Challenge
Report Your Game for the 2025 GameDay Football Challenge
2024 Winners:
- Ohio University, Ohio – Diversion: Stadium + Tailgating
- The Ohio State University, Ohio – Diversion: Stadium Only
- University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado – Recycling Per Capita
- Grand Valley State University, Michigan – Waste Minimization Per Capita
- University of Richmond, Virginia – Food Organics Per Capita
Review the 2024 GameDay Football Zero Waste Touchdown Challenge Final Results
2023 Winners:
- University of Colorado Boulder – Recycling Per Capita Category
- University of Minnesota – Food Organics Per Capita Category
- Grand Valley State University – Waste Minimization Per Capita Category
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Georgia Institute of Technology – Outdoor Events Cleanup Category
2023 GameDay Zero Waste Touchdown Final Report