Waste governance and campus sustainability: formal and informal waste systems at football tailgates in Michigan
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
ISSN: 1467-6370
Article publication date: 2 March 2023
Issue publication date: 13 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Football tailgating is a focus of campus sustainability in the United States because it produces large amounts of waste. In states where recyclables can be redeemed for cash, this waste also is a resource for earning income. University officials face the challenge of encouraging proper waste disposal, cleaning up efficiently and coexisting productively with income-earning recyclers. This paper aims to understand how bridging formal and informal actors can yield improved campus waste management outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the institutional analysis and development framework this study combines observational data throughout one football season with semi-structured interviews with informal recyclers, tailgaters and campus officials. Data are analyzed using thematic analysis.
Findings
The case displays interaction between formal and informal waste management actors and between formal and informal rules of interaction. Campus officials have largely succeeded in encouraging proper waste management by tailgaters, who in turn loosely coordinate with income-earning recyclers under unwritten rules. Officials tolerate recyclers, but waste management could be improved with better communication and coordination and more trust between them. Many recyclers conduct their work with a sense of environmental stewardship that could support waste management efforts.
Originality/value
Uncoordinated coexistence between formal and informal waste management systems is common in the global South. With few studies in the global North, this is the first the authors know of in a campus sustainability context.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors give special thanks to the canners, tailgaters and to the MSU Recycling Center and the Infrastructural Planning and Facilities staff members who participated in this study. In addition, we would also like to thank colleagues from the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University who helped with direct observations and participant recruitment. Lastly, we appreciate the comments and feedback from the reviewers. The project received funding from Michigan State University's Gender Justice and Environmental Change (GJEC) Dissertation Research Fellowship.
Citation
Chikowore, N.R. and Kerr, J.M. (2023), "Waste governance and campus sustainability: formal and informal waste systems at football tailgates in Michigan", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 24 No. 7, pp. 1474-1488. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-01-2022-0028
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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