This past summer, Athletics & Recreation’s Sport Fitness School (SFS) children’s camp took their “Go Green” program to the next level.

Starting with reduce and re-use initiatives, the team’s first target was staff. During training, coaches were briefed on new initiatives and offered a Go Green pledge – agreeing to use refillable coffee mugs and water bottles throughout the summer. In partnership with the Office of Sustainability and Facility Services, SFS also had extra bike racks installed at the camp to provide a safe place for coaches to lock up their bikes.

Hoping to expand beyond staff, the SFS Go Green committee also targeted the 2,000 athletes (ages 5-16) who attend camp each summer.

Go Green instituted waste-free Wednesdays (affectionately named “Enviromunch” days) at camp. Athletes were encouraged to bring a boomerang lunch (all packaging, etc. returns home for reuse), and staff also collected compost. The committee also created notebooks out of GOOS paper to present as prizes to coaches and athletes who embodied the spirit of environmentally sustainability.

Adding to the fun, each session at camp was opened with a pledge led by the “Go Green Team”. Campers and staff recited the following pledge before lunch on the first day.

“As a member of the Go Green crew, I promise to: recycle and reduce waste, put paper and plastic in the proper place. Mother Nature have no fear, because I am a planeteer!”

More than 35 years after opening, the Sport Fitness School hopes to continue moving forward with its Go Green initiatives at camp. On the radar for 2013 is a sustainable compost system for camp lunches.