Tips for campuses competing in the GameDay Recycling Challenge:
- If you think your school has participated in past years but you don’t have access to that account, please contact the helpline to recover your school’s account information, so you will have access to previous years data; don’t create a new account each year.
- Make sure you complete a 2018 Registration Form for your school, in addition to Results Form(s) for each game you are competing.
- Be sure to report your data in Pounds (not Tons).
- If you need help updating or accessing data on a Submitted Results Form, contact joingameday@gmail.com
- When you have finished entering all data for a game, click “Submit” on the Results Form to lock it and let us know the results are final.
National ranking awards are available to participating schools that are able to measure waste and recycling from both the stadium and tailgating areas. Schools reporting data from only tailgating or stadium are still eligible for Conference ranking awards. For an overview of how to track and report data, please see our website . - If you’re planning to track data from game(s) in November, please be sure to make special arrangements with your hauler in order to ensure you are able to submit your weights by the reporting deadline of December 3rd.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this only for the U.S.?
We welcome schools from both the US and Canada! At this time, our system is set up to report in standard units, so we will convert any metric data by hand. Please contact us at joingameday@gmail.com if you are a Canadian school and would like to participate in the GameDay Challege. In future years, we hope to have data available in either type of unit, depending on your school’s registration address.
When will registration for the 2018 GameDay Recycling Challenge open?
Registration will open for the GameDay Challenge in mid-August 2018.
When is the deadline for registration?
October 20, 2018. For registration questions or assistance, please email GameDay.
What is the Zero Waste Wall of Fame?
The Zero Waste Wall of Fame recognizes schools that are approaching or have achieved 90 percent diversion rates within their football stadiums.
What is the Data Submission and Reporting Deadline?
Collection weights and other gameday data can be submitted after completing a GDRC ReTRAC Registration Form. The final deadline to submit or update data for this year’s competition is December 3, 2018.
How do I measure attendance?
Simply report the official game attendance shown in the box score for the game.
Can we report more than one game? Which one is counted?
Yes. Schools may report one or more home games. Where more than one game is reported we will use your best result for each category. For example, if a school reports three games and the Diversion Rate ranking is highest from the first game while the best Waste Generation number is from the third game we will use the best numbers for each category even when they come from different games.
Is my school eligible?
Any college or university in the United States or Canada with a football program can participate in the GameDay Recycling Challenge. If your school does not have a football program but does have a basketball program and wants to participate in GameDay Recycling activities at basketball games, consider participating in RecycleMania, which has a GameDay Recycling competition for basketball programs as well as general campus Waste/Recycling promotions competition.
I need help registering my school
GameDay Recycling Challenge program is administered through a FREE Re-TRAC Connect account. If your school has reported data through Re-TRAC previously, such as for RecycleMania or other State reporting, you can use that same Re-TRAC account to opt-in to GameDay Recycling Challenge program on Re-TRAC. Register or log-in here.
If you think your school has participated in past years but you don’t have access to that account, please contact the helpline to recover your school’s account information, so you will have access to previous years data; don’t create a new account each year.
New Competitors: If you have never competed in GameDay Recycling Challenge before and do not have a Re-TRAC account, refer to the Registration Guide.
New Re-TRAC Users. This will help you create a Re-TRAC Connect account and complete the GameDay Recycling Challenge forms.
Returning Competitors: If you have participated in the GameDay Recycling Challenge in the past or if you have an existing Re-TRAC Connect account, please refer to the Registration Guide for Users with Existing Re-TRAC Accounts.
For questions not covered in the registration guides, email joingameday@gmail.com. The GameDay coordinator will generally respond within 24 hours.
How do I get involved?
1. Register your school. Click here to get started.
2. Follow @GameDayChallnge on Twitter and spread the word across campus using #GameDayChallenge
3. Like us on Facebook and post your updates
What are the award categories?
There will be two national awards and also five awards within each conference or division.
National Challenge > Schools that can measure waste and recycling in BOTH their stadium and tailgate/parking areas are eligible for the National Challenge Awards
• Diversion Rate
• Total Recycling (pounds)
Conference Awards
Schools compete within their own athletic conference or division. Schools that are not a part of a conference (“independent”) will be listed separately.
Schools should strive to measure waste and recycling inside and outside their stadium but may submit data from just inside the stadium, just outside the stadium, or both inside and outside the stadium.
Since most conference awards are based on attendance (per capita), schools wishing to compete for a conference award must report official stadium attendance as listed on the box score from the game. If there is not an official box score, schools can report estimated attendance. (Although attendance is not required for a national award, schools wishing to compete for a national award are encouraged to include attendance in their results in order to also be considered for conference awards and rankings.)
1. Recycling Rate: The school with the highest recycling rate per capita wins.
2. Waste Generation: The school with the lowest per capita waste generation wins.
3. Greenhouse Gas Reduction: The school with the highest greenhouse gas reduction per capita wins.
4. Organics Reduction: The school with the highest organic reduction rate per capita wins.
5. Conference Diversion Rate: The school with the highest diversion rate wins, including recycling, composting, and/or donation together.
(Note: Conference Diversion Rate ranks schools regardless of reporting from Stadium, Tailgate areas, or both; National Diversion Rate ranks only those schools reporting from both Stadium and Tailgate areas.)
For complete rules on how rankings are calculated go to Results and Standings on the Measuring and Reporting page.
Which schools are participating?
Schools are listed on the website as they register during the late summer and early fall.
I need more help!
Free technical assistance is available to all GameDay Challenge participants to help design and implement effective waste reduction activities. Key tools and resources include:
• The GameDay Challenge Helpline, a free email service staffed by board members of RecycleMania and CURC, offers access to information specialists trained to answer questions about the GameDay Challenge, including technical questions on how to design and implement a GameDay waste reduction program. You can contact GameDay at joingameday@gmail.com
• The GameDay Challenge Resources web page contains a variety of resources, including information and guidance on how to set up and operate a GameDay waste reduction program.
Return to main GameDay Recycling Challenge webpage.