On football Saturdays in Gainesville, one group of UF students gets up close and personal with chicken bones, empty liquor bottles, beer cans and the occasional surly tailgater.

The Gator Green Team collects thousands of pounds of recyclables discarded by the thousands of Gator faithful who camp out for pre-game festivities.

"It's really cool," says David Eardley, a senior economics major, "to get out there when it's hot, when it's gross ... and just have a hands-on experience."

The Green Team is an ad hoc coalition of Florida student organizations that team up each fall football Saturday to reduce the amount of garbage the university sends to the landfill when 90,000 fans converge on Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.