Sports Venues Turn Green

By Terry L. Shannon

The world of going green” has hit sports venues in a big way.  And the impact has been huge.  Right here in our own backyard, the Corpus Christi Hooks initiated its own GO GREEN program that encourages fans at Thursday through Saturday games to collect empty aluminum and plastic bottles and pass the recyclables down the row to a member of the Hooks Green Team. Patrons are prompted each night through a late-inning video board and public address reminder.

"It's responsible to recycle and we look forward to partnering with our guests, CC Disposal and Coca-Cola," Hooks president Ken Schrom said. "The most effective way to recycle is through teamwork. We believe our great fans will be great teammates in this endeavor."  Schrom also said CC Disposal is providing the Hooks with a cardboard baler.  "We have massive amounts of cardboard to contend with and the baler puts us on track for an effective cardboard recycling initiative as well."

While it isn’t sports exclusive, American Bank Center adopted Green Practices in an effort to reduce the venue’s carbon footprint by becoming more energy efficient and reducing waste. The mission of the Green Practices sustainability program is to pioneer greening efforts in Corpus Christi’s premier convention facility.

To promote energy efficiency the lighting at the complex was converted from incandescent lighting to compact fluorescent lighting while reducing the wattage of fluorescent lights in select areas of the Convention Center and saving a generous amount of kilowatt hours per year. Timed lighting systems also aid in energy conservation and SMG management is looking forward to installing sensor lighting systems in the distant future in some areas of the Arena.

To reduce waste, American Bank Center recycles printer ink cartridges and oil from the ice rink chillers and air compressors. American Bank Center employees also practice conservation awareness by producing paperless reports or documents and purchasing “green” products when possible. In addition, clients and visitors are encouraged to stay at downtown hotels within walking distance from the venue, restaurants, and other attractions to reduce vehicle emissions. SMG management eventually wants to obtain bins to place around the complex for the recycling of plastic, glass bottles, aluminum/tin cans, paper and cardboard products. 

Did you know that during every University of Texas home football game, the Longhorn Recycling Roundup program collects and recycles plastic cups and bottles? Fans are encouraged to participate in this program by placing their cups or bottles in barrels or clear, cylinder recycling cans located within the stadium, designated cans and recycling centers on the suite and club levels, and by placing recyclables in the complimentary bags that are distributed within tailgating lots. Last year UT fans managed to collect a staggering 26,385 pounds of plastic, making it one of the largest efforts ever undertaken by a university stadium of this size. 

You might have a son, daughter, maybe even a grandchild who’s involved in sports.  The next time you show up to support him/her, take a look around and see what can be done to recycle.  If all of us just did a little, it would make a huge impact.  As an example, UT played Rice in the season opener this year and in that game alone, 4.88 tons of plastic were collected, 16,104 yards of landfill space were saved, as was 1,854 gallons of oil.