A Proclivity for Dumpster Diving

Originally for this blog post I had a few ideas and reflective thoughts written down that I was going to assemble into some cohesive storyline.

Then came July 11 – the final game of a 6-game homestand, meaning we had been working for 13-14 hours a day for the past 5 days in a row only going home to sleep before coming right back to the ballpark. That Wednesday was a day game and at the scheduled start of 1:05 St. Paul, MN was under a heat advisory as our heat index was expected to reach over 100 degrees.

For reasons most of my coworkers still don’t understand I chose this day to station myself by the trash compactor in the service hallway (with no air conditioning) and intercept every single trash bag that was brought down, rip it open, and pull out anything that is compostable or recyclable. When I told my advisor about this idea he said he had never met anyone with my “proclivity for dumpster diving”.

Bottom of the 1st: Reflective Post #1

Today marks exactly one month since I started my project placement and what a month it has been! I apologize in advance for what is likely to be a longer post, but so much has happened I can’t believe it has only been a month.

Home sweet home

 

As I said in my previous post, I always dreamed of working in baseball. Before I started my placement I was overcome with fear – what if I finally started my dream job and turned out to hate it? What if I am actually terrible at it and need to find a new path?

Luckily I can say those fears have not been realized. I am loving my job. There are few things better than being able to spend every day in a ballpark sharing my passion for the environment with others. I have already gotten so far on my projects from my proposal.

Making Baseball Sustainable

CHS Field opened in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 2015 and was self-declared to be “the greenest ballpark in America”. In 2017, the Green Sports Alliance agreed with them and made that title official. CHS Field is home to the Saint Paul Saints, a baseball team in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, and proud promoters of sustainability. CHS Field and the city of Saint Paul have collaborated their efforts to make the ballpark a zero-waste facility. The Saints are one of the most popular minor league baseball teams with the highest attendance of any team outside of the Majors. Even with all these people, they have managed an over 50% waste diversion rate over the last three years, peaking in 2016 with 64% of waste not ending up in the landfill.