For two years in a row, the University of California Davis has been named the diversion rate champion for U.S. EPA´s Game Day Challenge.

The Game Day Challenge is a friendly competition for colleges and universities to promote waste reduction at their football games. During the challenge, colleges and universities implement waste reduction programs during home football games. Last fall, 75 participating colleges and universities and 2.7 million fans diverted nearly 500,000 pounds of waste from football games, which prevented more than 810 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released. The greenhouse gas emissions avoided is equal to removing 159 passenger vehicles from the road for one year.

UC-Davis, which was the first to initiate a zero waste goal in 2007 at its stadium, had a  nearly 94% diversion. Humboldt State University came in second place with 74%.

Winners for other categories include:

• Waste Minimization Champion (Per Capita Waste Generation) – Central Connecticut State University
• Greenhouse Gas Reduction Champion (Per Capita Greenhouse Gas Reduction) – University of Virginia
• Recycling Champion (Per Capita Recycling) – University of Virginia
• Organics Reduction Champion (Per Capita Organics Reduction) – Marist College