Stadiums
throughout Major League Baseball are adopting green programs
(From
mlb.com)
(Photo: Fans of
Pittsburgh Pirates don green hats in support of the team’s green initiatives.)
Starting with Opening Day, the Major League Baseball
calendar features many special days: Jackie Robinson Day, Mother's Day,
Memorial Day, Father's Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Roberto Clemente Day
and Veterans Day.
Earth Day truly belongs on that list now.
There was a time during the past decade when the important
worldwide date was something you recognized with scattered examples of clubs' environmental
stewardship, looking for a common bond. Sunday is Earth Day 2012, and around
the national pastime it arrives with an instituted resolve that brings daily
club news of harnessing wind, installing solar arrays, carbon offsets,
hydropower, recycling and composting, paperless ticketing, conservation
awareness, sustainable food practices and much more.
The initiatives are a fact of life in front offices, along
with player scouting and game production. It has been the gradual infusion of
change that all started in 2006, when MLB became the first sports league to
partner with the Natural Resources Defense Council and subsequently formed the
"Commissioner's Initiative on Sustainable Stadium Operations and Team
Practices" -- now known simply as the MLB Greening Program<>
.
"Baseball is a social institution with social
responsibilities, and caring for the environment is inextricably linked to all
aspects of the game," Commissioner Bud Selig said. "Sound
environmental practices make sense in every way and protect out natural
resources for future generations of baseball fans."
"Earth Day should give all of us reason to reflect on
our own efforts to act responsibly and sustainably," said Pirates chairman
Bob Nutting. "We all have a responsibility to do as much as we can to
protect our environment."
If you work in baseball today, you work in environmental
practice. It touches virtually everything you do. Green practices save clubs
money in addition to saving the planet. Examples are everywhere you look, few
of them more prominent than the innovative, corkscrew-shaped wind turbine that
stands sentinel atop Progressive Field. It was installed at the start of this
season, making the Indians the first club to harness wind power.
Dr. Majid Rashidi, a professor of Mechanical Engineering at
Cleveland State University's Fenn College, is the creator of the "helical
wind turbine" design, which amplifies airflow around a central cylinder to
power four small turbine fans. Funded through grants from the Department of
Energy and the state of Ohio, it is more conducive for urban areas and confined
spaces than a traditional long-blade wind turbine, and rated at 25,000
kilowatts per year.
"Dr. Rashidi's new technology is playing a significant
role in the advancement wind energy," CSU president Ronald Berkman said.
"We are proud to showcase this exciting new design in our hometown, along
with the Cleveland Indians, and use this venue to move the technology closer to
commercialization."
"With this project we hope to not only benefit the
environment by increasing our use of renewable energy, but also help an
impressive new technology generate local jobs by taking advantage of
Cleveland's great manufacturing workforce and factories," said Brad Mohr,
Indians assistant director of ballpark operations.
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