When you think of going green, you might think adding trees, natural areas, green space, etc., but in the case of the University of Central Arkansas , green is striped, purple and gray to be precise with what The Sporting News called the “coolest field in college football.”

In the summer of 2010, the university president requested a group be assembled to examine the policies and practices of the campus in order to identify cost savings and to be more responsible in terms of the environment and sustainability.  Further, the committee was charged with examining and encouraging ways to involve the campus and the greater community in this effort.

The committee is called Responsible UCA and one of their first efforts was to tackle the football field (pun intended).  The committee asked the Athletic Director Dr. Brad Teague and Physical Plant Director Larry Lawrence to provide a report showing the potential savings and benefits to replacing the real grass with artificial turf.

After reviewing the report, the committee wasted no time in writing a resolution to move forward with the artificial turf.

Conservative cost savings include grounds labor, irrigation, fertilizer, sod, paint and equipment of just over $100,000 per year.

Environmental considerations include saving of over 3 million gallons of water per year once used to water the field, along with 300 gallons of paint and multiple fertilizer treatments.  The committee was also pleased the product was 100% recyclable, non-hazardous, CA Prop 65 Compliant and Anti-microbial.