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NAKKI WATANABE

Columbia University, MS Sustainability Management

EREF Scholar 2023

Stadiums’ Impact: How Sports and Beer Can Change the World

Project Description

Over 350 million fans attend sporting or entertainment events every year in the United States, requiring approximately 3 billion single-use items, and many of these items will be beverage cups. The average sports stadium in the US throws away 5.4 million cups every year. Using single-use items such as beverage cups is undeniably convenient. However, this convenience is associated with negative environmental and social impacts at each stage of the cup’s life cycle. Single-use plastic poses additional concerns for human and environmental health from its production, use and disposal. By addressing the externalities of single-use plastic cups and examining attributes of successful reuse systems, this project underscores the environmental and economic benefits of transitioning to reusable food and beverage containers. 

Biography

Nakki Watanabe’s received her bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Sustainability Studies from George Mason University in 2023. During her undergraduate studies, she developed an interest in combating environmental issues such as single-use plastics and using methodologies such as life cycle assessment (LCA) to better understand every stage of plastic products. Immediately after completing her bachelor’s degree, Watanabe began a master’s program in Sustainability Management at Columbia University. In her program, she worked on a team capstone project focused on tackling the single-use plastic waste problem in sports stadiums.