UW-Madison will be the first Big Ten School to have a carbon-neutral"" football game during Homecoming next weekend.
The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and the UW-Madison Athletic Department teamed up to organize the event.
The Badgers' Homecoming game against Illinois will attempt to offset the damaging effects of carbon dioxide on the environment and advise fans on how to live environmentally friendly lives.
CALS Associate Dean Ben Miller said the project's goal is to raise campus awareness about energy efficiency.
""We feel that this is an effort that will bring attention to this issue,"" Miller said.
CALS professors Pat Walsh and Tom Gower and UW-Madison undergraduate Julia Kolberg have measured the carbon dioxide emitted by the university. The total was 1,170 tons per gameday, a significant amount due to electrical use and transportation associated with football games.
""Any chance we have to work with our students on a project that's important to them we get very excited about,"" said Vince Sweeney, senior associate athletic director for external relations for the Athletic Department. ""Building the relationships, strengthening those relationships and working together is something that we really cherish.""
The carbon-neutral football game will add to a list of projects between the Athletic Department and environmental groups on campus.
On Thursday, UW-Madison student-athletes, Bucky Badger and university officials planted trees at the Arlington Tree Farm on land set aside by a landowner.
""Those trees won't be touched and will grow and help in the carbon sequestration issue as well,"" Miller said.
According to Sweeney, the recycling project between the Athletic Department and Rethink Wisconsin has recycled over 2,000 pounds of soda bottles and water bottles over the last six weeks.
""We're very excited about the progress made,"" Sweeney said.
In light of the project, CALS will host a Bioenergy Summit Oct. 23 and 24, which will bring together university experts, state lawmakers and innovators from Wisconsin's private sector.
