POWERED BY SWEAT

POWERED BY SWEAT, SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY | 1
POWERED BY SWEAT
by Lindsey Cromwell Kalkbrenner, Director Office of Sustainability and Janice DeMonsi,
Director of Recreation
WHY GO GREEN
Santa Clara University, a Catholic, Jesuit university in Silicon Valley, has a longstanding
commitment to sustainability. In 2004, a Comprehensive Policy on Sustainability
articulated the University’s commitment to sustainable campus operations, education,
and outreach in order to develop a culture of sustainability among all students, faculty,
and staff. The University’s most recent Strategic Plan in 2011 further defines the
institution’s commitment to environmental justice.
Campus Recreation began its foray into sustainable operations in 2006 when SCU’s
Sustainability Coordinator (Lindsey Cromwell Kalkbrenner) was hired. Janice DeMonsi,
Director of Recreation, is a champion for sustainability—living simply is part of her
personal goals. The hiring of the sustainability coordinator heightened Janice’s sense of
the University’s value of sustainability. This motivated her to bring her personal passion
for sustainability into the workplace. Since 2006, Janice has partnered with University
Operations, Facilities, and the Office of Sustainability, offering Campus Recreation’s
facilities to pilot test new sustainability initiatives. After proving sustainability can lead to
cost-savings as well as positive press, Janice and the Office of Sustainability have
worked with Athletics leadership to begin implementing sustainability initiatives across
the entire department.
WHERE TO START
In 2006, as an effort to take advantage of natural lighting, rather than lighting empty
courts, Campus Recreation created a policy to only turn on court lights on when patrons
were on the basketball courts. The next level of sustainability initiatives in Campus
Recreation occurred two years later, with the implementation of a new software program
(CSI Software). This program changed all the processes at the Front Desk, eliminating
the need for paper membership agreements, locker rental forms, and more. This led to
a paperless initiative. All information usually printed was posted online and shifted to
single laminated sheets to post in the gym.
As a test bed for Facilities’ new sustainability-related equipment, Malley Center (45,000
square foot student recreation facility) was the first building on campus to use dual-flush
toilets, the first to test compost-collection of paper towels, and the first to install
occupancy sensors for lighting in storage closets and workrooms. As Janice and the
Office of Sustainability continued to work together, they were able to show cost-savings
and create positive emotions from patrons. Shortly after this, Janice was able to justify a
myriad of sustainability-related purchases including carpeting in tiles (allowing
replacement of individual worn pieces rather than the entire carpeting in a room), and
pool tarps to save on heating costs.
The University’s Strategic Plan, adopted in 2011, highlights justice and sustainability as
a major strategic priority. The Director of Athletics and Recreation, in response to this,

wanted to create an initiative that showcased Athletics’ commitment to sustainability.
The Athletics Department, in partnership with Janice at Campus Recreation, decided to
create a sustainability internship for Athletics and Recreation. Based on the model
already in use by the Office of Sustainability, the internship would provide a paid,
professional development and leadership opportunity for an undergraduate student
athlete to develop a culture of sustainability among student athletes, Athletics staff,
Campus Recreation facilities users, and Broncos fans. Hiring a student athlete for this
position was key, as the Athletic department has ownership over the internship—she is
part of the program (not someone external to Athletics), and she already has rapport
with coaches and athletics staff.
Another easy place to begin resided in waste diversion. Janice co-presented Zero
Waste by 2020 at a NIRSA annual conference. This presentation looked at what
campus recreation programs were already doing to be sustainable. After this
conference she was accidently misquoted as having made a program goal for zero
waste by 2020. After discussions with Lindsey, Janice decided to accept the misquote
and actually create her own zero waste by 2020 goal for the Malley Center! A waste
characterization (analyzing landfill waste) in August 2012, and a full waste
characterization (analyzing all landfill, compost, and recycling) in October 2012 showed
current diversion rates. Numerous structural changes have been implemented since
then, including TerraCycle brigades for energy bar wrappers, and waste diversion
training for all Campus Recreation staff has been integrated into quarterly meetings.
New waste diversion stations were installed in Leavey Events Center, following several
pilot tests of new signage created by students in ENVS 10, The Joy of Garbage.
CHALLENGES: OVERCOME & ONGOING
Campus Recreation has been doing a lot of little things to green their programs. Though
Campus Recreation falls under Athletics, the unit and the Office of Sustainability had
not built connections with the Athletics department as a whole. Athletics is an area that
is resistant to change—coaches and administrators are busy and many do not
understand how making changes for sustainability can result in big impacts. As a
campus facility they have compost, recycle, and landfill containers. However, even with
signage, many staff members have no real understanding of how to divert their waste.
To address this issue, Janice presented Recycling 101 at an all-staff meeting. This 10-
minute presentation and demonstration (with props of commonly used items!) gave the
department some tips on how to divert their waste. This began the conversation about
changes that could be made. The best outcome were the phone calls Janice received
from colleagues asking simple questions about waste diversion. Janice would like to
continue having part of an all-staff meeting be about sustainability once or twice a year.
Once staff become more informed, they are more able and willing to make changes in
their purchasing decisions, trip planning, etc.
When Megan Anders (’14, NCAA Division 1 Volleyball player) was hired as the
Sustainability Intern for Athletics and Recreation in January 2012, a number of
innovations were implemented. Megan’s first project was to showcase that most of the
cardio equipment was self-powered in the Malley Center Weight Room. Megan

designed neon green stickers that say “Powered by Sweat” for all of these machines.
At this same time, two Woodway Curve treadmills (self-powered) were purchased to
replace two electric-powered treadmills. For the first two weeks they were on campus,
users could test the treadmills in the lobby where they were part of a bigger display that
showcased their energy efficiency.
In addition to the lobby showcase, Megan created posters to demonstrate Campus
Recreation’s sustainability initiatives. One explained the energy benefits of the new
treadmills and another was the start of a series of “Everyday Locker Room” posters.
These posters are eye-catching and include educational sustainability information
designed to engage athletes, related to food, waste, energy, and water. These quarterly
posters are printed to 20”x30” and are placed in the student athlete locker rooms,
training room, and in the Malley Center lobby.
To measure the impact of Megan’s internship we surveyed several athletic teams.
Overall results were very positive—they have noticed the posters and gained
knowledge from them. We also learned that some student athletes felt overwhelmed by
all the content in the poster and therefore do not stop to read the whole thing. To
address this, Megan began creating 8½”x11” infographics. Five of each infographic are
posted each Friday and will cycle through the quarter. We hope that these smaller facts
will resonate with some of the 1,200 daily Campus Recreation users as they pass by.
These infographics are also being used on Campus Recreation’s Facebook page &
throughout campus as digital flyers. As Megan creates new Everyday Locker Room
posters, she will focus on making sure they are more simple and less overwhelming
with content.
Our first major challenge was associated with hosting our first green game. Our intent
with the game was to highlight sustainability on campus and be a form of education to
the fans on where to dispose their items purchased at concessions. Athletics event
organizers work very differently than units the Office of Sustainability had worked with in
the past. Learning the culture of the department we were trying to engage with, and
muddle through how this relationship would work, was really frustrating at times. The
expectations of each of the parties were often unclear. However, after the first green
game was successfully accomplished, we were asked to make every game a green
game! Now, as a result of this enthusiasm on the part of Athletics event organizers,
every attendee at home basketball events watches a two-minute video featuring Megan
demonstrating how to dispose of items from concessions. Every attendee also uses
restrooms that compost paper towels and are decorated with older editions of Everyday
Locker Room posters. The Events Center concourse also has additional posters
showcasing SCU sustainability initiatives.
LESSONS FROM THE FIELD
Written by Megan Anders, ’14, Sustainability Intern for Athletics and Recreation
There has been a number of things that have proven to be surprisingly helpful for my
internship. Because I am an athlete, I already had connections with not only my
coaches, but other coaches, media relations, and athletic staff. Being an athlete gave

me an advantage I didn’t know I had until I started my job. If I needed surveys filled out,
I could go directly to the coaches and ask them to have their players fill it out, since I
have learned that in-person communication and word of mouth is the best way to get
participation. This really helped me evaluate and improve my Everyday Locker Room
poster series. These relationships also helped me gather donations for our annual
sporting goods drive—coaches welcomed my offer to help them clean out their storage
lockers—something that someone lacking this rapport would not have been able to do.
Besides the coaches, I have the support of other Athletic department staff. As a
volleyball player I often do interviews or talk with the Director of Media Relations,
Michelle Schmitt. This relationship enabled me to share with her my work as an intern.
She wrote articles about what I was working on and showcased them on the Athletic
Department website and on the department Facebook page. She even filmed the waste
diversion video that is shown during all home basketball games!
As much as those relationships have been great, there have also been some to learn
from. One thing I would strongly recommend when working on a new initiative is to
make sure the first meeting about the project is with the person in the position to
approve or deny your project. This way, you won't spend a lot of time working on a
project just to have it changed or canceled.
Another lesson we learned was things are more complicated than they appear. It is one
thing to say you are going to be zero waste than to actually progress to zero waste. Our
first waste characterization was a very disappointing experience. Though we had been
improving collection processes within the building, we completely forgot to address
custodial education and procedures for removing non-landfill waste from the building.
We witnessed first-hand compost and recycle bags that had been placed in the landfill
dumpster. After we let our emotions cool we developed a plan to target specific items,
improve signage overall, work with facilities to educate custodians and improve the
external waste enclosure.
MEDIA & STATISTICS
Statistics
• 100% of Athletics staff received a training demonstration about waste diversion.
• 100% of Campus Recreation staff (70 students) receive regular waste diversion
and sustainability training. Sustainability is a component of their regular duties.
• Malley Center has an average of 1,200 daily users. These users are exposed to
the numerous sustainability initiatives in action.
• Every attendee at our 31 home games this basketball season has seen the
sustainability posters, waste diversion video, and restroom posters.
• Malley’s landfill waste characterization (Aug. ’12) showed 75% of “trash” should
have been composted/recycled. This resulted in improved signage and training.
• Malley’s full waste characterization (Oct. ’12) showed a potential diversion rate of
83% if all recyclables/compostables were captured. This resulted in a new
TerraCycle partnership, along with targeted infographics to educate fitness
center users.

Waste Diversion Video starring Megan
Anders
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7REvm
fVGpk&feature=youtu.be]
Filmed by Michelle Schmitt, Director of Media
Relations. This video is shown on the large screen
at every home basketball game. It was also posted
on the Athletics’ department website.
Sustainability Champion Award
Janice DeMonsi won Santa Clara University’s
Sustanability Champion Award for 2012.
Pictured: Lindsey Cromwell Kalkbrenner,
Megan Anders, and Janice DeMonsi
Sporting Goods Drive
Items collected during the Sporting Goods Drive included: 84 basketballs, 20 cones, 6 soccer balls, 12
tennis balls, 50 jerseys, and more. They were donated to Rocketship Mateo Sheedy Elementary, a
school for low-income families. Rocketship provides a foundational education to help students succeed
and be prepared for college.

Images from the Green Game, October 2012
Testing waste diversion signage at the green
game: 1 of 5 sets of signs created by students in
ENVS 10: Joy of Garbage
Several Every Day Locker Room Posters were
mounted in Leavey Event Center restrooms for
the Green Game. These are now permanent
fixtures. Also note the paper towel compost
collection at left.

Green Game attendees use the new signs to sort
their waste
Green Game attendees use the new signs to sort
their waste
Dan Coonan, Director of Athletics, helps us mount
posters in the men’s restroom.
Special posters were created for the Green
Game, showcasing sustainability initiatives of the
Athletics Department. These are now permanent
fixtures in the Leavey Event Center concourse.
Pre-Green Game, Sustainability Coordinator Cara
Uy prepares to host the Compost Trivia Game.
(Did you know our Coke cups, lids, and straws are
all compostable?)
Mission Sustainable logo on the large events
screen during the Green Game.

Malley Fitness Center
Woodway Curve treadmill in use. Powered by
Sweat poster in background.
Woodway Curve treadmills with Powered by
Sweat stickers.
Powered By Sweat sticker, on all self-powered
cardio machines.
Everyday Locker Room Poster Series External Collections
Posters in the training room are visible to every athlete
who receives treatment. For complete posters, please
see p. 13
External waste station. Custodians empty
interior containers into these bins. Campus
Facilities crew members empty these bins as
needed. Note the color coding consistent with
internal signage and containers.

Waste Characterizations
Janice DeMonsi and Brian Kirby ’13, Facility
Supervisor
Athletes and Campus Recreation & Office of
Sustainability staff conduct a waste
characterization of Malley Center. August 2012.
The large amount of energy bar wrappers
prompted Janice and Brian to join TerraCycle.
Lindsey Cromwell Kalkbrenner helps students
determine how to categorize certain items. October
2012.
Sustainability Intern for Waste Diversion, Mimi
Sanicola ’13 records data from the waste
characterization
A student in ENVS 10: Joy of Garbage sorts
compostable waste from a basketball game in
Leavey Event Center

Waste Diversion Stations
New signs above Malley’s waste diversion station
Malley’s Waste waste diversion station including
TerraCycle collection bins.
TerraCycle collection bin for energy bar wrappers
(after only 3 days of use!)
Janice DeMonsi places new labels on Leavey Event
Center’s new waste diversion station
New permanent waste diversion stations in
Leavey Event Center. Each has a metal sign
holder to ensure instructions are posted near-eye
level. They were fabricated by Facilities, based on
recommendations by the Leavey Events Center
Facility Manager.
.

Infographics
Each infographic is printed on 8.5”x11” paper and
posted in Malley Center for one week, until it is
replaced by a new infographic.
Infographics created by Megan Anders

POWERED BY SWEAT

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