SPOKANE, Wash. — At Avista Stadium, more than just baseball is happening. Behind the scenes, the Spokane Indians are working hard to reduce their environmental impact, striving to become the first zero-waste facility in Minor League Baseball.
Kyle Day, Spokane Indians vice president and general manager, said the team’s goal is to divert 90% of its waste to compost or recycling. “We don’t have a timeline on that necessarily, but we keep progressing closer towards that each year,” Day said.
The effort, which began in 2019, involves ordering more compostable products and packaging, and sorting compost and recycling by hand after every game. The team’s “green team,” along with front office staff, often roll up their sleeves to help with the process, sorting the trash from recycling by hand after each and every game. That’s right, all 66 of them.
“It really is a large task but we have a lot of fun with it,” Day said. “It kind of morphed from there into what it is today.”
Fans play an important role in making the process smoother. Signage around the stadium educates attendees on what items go into which bins. Day emphasized the importance of following those instructions to ease sorting efforts.
“We make sure there aren’t mustard packets going into recycling, and that lids are off all the Pepsi bottles because those can be projectiles in the sorting facility,” Day said. “We feel it’s the right thing to do as a long-time community member.”
The Indians also use historical data to manage food production and minimize waste. Leftover food is donated to the community through a partnership with Feed Spokane, which distributes it to those in need.
In Minor League Baseball, staff often wear many hats—sometimes literally sorting through compost themselves.
“Especially on busier nights, sometimes we assign specific people, but sometimes we go back, we take a peek at the mound of garbage, and we say, ‘Hey, I think they’re going to need a little extra help tonight, so let’s go pitch in and help them out,’” Day said.
Currently, manpower and time limit the team’s ability to sort all waste perfectly, but the Spokane Indians remain committed to improving their processes and reaching their zero-waste goal.
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