Colorado football eliminating plastic beer cups at home games
Colorado athletics is attempting to become free of plastic containers at sporting events by 2020.
It revealed a big step in that direction on Tuesday, announcing that fans drinking beer for Saturday’s home opener against Nebraska won’t receive their beverage in the traditional plastic cups familiar at almost every sporting and entertainment venue in America.
So how will beer be served?
Instead, beer drinkers will receive their beverages in a newly launched aluminum cup produced by Ball touted as “infinitely recyclable.”
CU spokesman Ryan Huff told the Denver Post that soda and wine will still be served in plastic this season, but that the goal to eliminate plastic by 2020 remains in place.
"As an athletic department and university, we are proud of all we have done thus far and will continue to do in reducing our carbon footprint,” athletic director Rick George said in a release announcing the news.
Colorado’s environmental steps
In May, Colorado joined the New York Yankees, the NBA and the International Olympic Committee among other organizations as the first college program to sign the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework aimed at combating climate change.
Single-use plastic containers and straws are ubiquitous at public events and are being targeted for their contributions to waste as awareness of the amount of plastic floating in our oceans increases.
As more people become aware of the impact of plastic on the environment, moves like Colorado’s switch to alternatives will likely become more common.
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