During fiscal year 2023-24, Duke Athletics collaborated closely with the Office of Climate and Sustainability and the Duke Sustainable Athletics Group to prioritize and support sustainability efforts within sports at Duke.
- The fall featured two sustainability focused athletic events, the Climate Commitment football game and the Bleed Blue, Live Green field hockey game. Highlights at the events included composting, athletic gear donations, in game videos and trivia as well as fan engagement activities on the field.
- Two student athlete interns, Brandon Hersh and Alayna Burns, worked during spring semester on helping build the strategic framework for sports sustainability at Duke. These student leaders were also recipients of the 2024 Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award. Burns and Hersh received a $2,500 grant, which they donated to Eco Athletes, a national non-profit dedicated to equipping and identifying athletes to combat the climate crisis.
- The Duke Sustainable Athletics Group (DSAG) is an organization of student-athletes with a passion for climate action and sustainability. They host the Devils Doing Good Shoe Drive and through this collection effort, student volunteers gather end-of-life and gently used athletic shoes from sports teams across campus, in order to divert the shoes away from landfills. By the end the 2023-24 academic year, the DSAG had collected over 1,400 shoes for this shoe drive, demonstrating the power of circular economies in reducing waste. In the spring semester, DSAG also hosted a Green Week at Training Table which featured waste sorting, trivia and compost tracking in collaboration with the Athletics food service provider in Blue Devil Tower.