No matter what jersey your favorite team wears, there's one
color that every sports fan can root for: green.
Whether it's Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, the NBA
Finals, NHL’s Winter Classic, the NCAA Final Four or the U.S. Open tennis
championship, some of the biggest games in professional sports are making an
effort to be more environmentally conscious by using NRDC's specially
developed Greening Advisors.
They've teamed up with NRDC to examine everything ranging from
their purchasing decisions to transportation choices, energy use, and waste
management policies, looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact. And
they're encouraging fans to do the same online and in their stadiums and
arenas.
The benefits for both professional and college sports leagues
are robust, from saving thousands of dollars on energy, waste, and water bills
to creating new sponsorship opportunities and enhancing brand value with
corporate social responsibility--not to mention the environmental benefits.
NRDC started working with the NFL's Philadelphia
Eagles in 2004,
providing advice for the team's "Go Green" effort. Since then, Major
League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the
National Hockey League, the National Football League, Major League Soccer, the U.S. Tennis
Association, and the NCAA Final Four have
all picked up the ball.
NRDC has produced Greening
Advisors for all MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS teams and the USTA. The NRDC Greening
Advisor is a web-based environmental resource guide designed to help each team
and facility operator identify what they can do in their specific city and
facility to pursue environmentally superior operations and supply chain
options. The Greening Advisor won the EPA’s Environmental Merit Award in 2008.
One of the many ways NRDC has been helping stadiums and arenas
reduce environmental impacts is by commissioning energy, waste, and water
efficiency audits -- many of which result in significant cost savings. For
example, between 2006 and 2009, the Seattle Mariners reduced Safeco Field’s use
of natural gas by 44 percent and electricity consumption by 17 percent, saving
over $1 million in just over three years.
Since first partnering with NRDC in 2008, each year the US Open
has recycled 18,000 tennis ball cans and replaced 2.4 million virgin
fiber-based napkins with 90% post-consumer recycled content napkins, along with
many other initiatives.
In 2011 NRDC was asked to join the NCAA Final Four Sustainability Committee to integrate
ecologically intelligent practices into the event’s planning and production.
Over the course of the event weekend, the Final Four recycled more than seven
tons of paper, bottles and cans; composted 1.5 tons of food waste; and donated
unused food to local charities. 100% of the energy used at the George R.
Brown Convention Center was sourced from wind and solar, and carbon offsets
were purchased for energy used at Reliant Stadium. And these efforts don’t end
here: the Convention Center is currently seeking LEED Silver certification.
NRDC provides the framework and expertise for leagues and teams
to measure their environmental impacts, develop baseline information and track
environmental progress. NRDC also offers tools to help leagues educate their
employees, sponsors, players, and fans about the importance of environmental
issues. NRDC has helped
develop the first ever environmental impact measurement template to help teams
and leagues keep track of energy use, water use, waste generation, recycling,
and paper use. This data collection system, already in place at Major League
Baseball, is being considered for use by all leagues. Additionally, all the leagues
NRDC is partnered with have distributed a publication produced by NRDC and the
Bonneville Environmental Foundation entitled Solar Energy for Your Stadium or
Arena: A Guide to Understanding Opportunities of On-Site Photovoltaic Solar
Power Generation,
encouraging stadium and arena operators to install on-site solar technology at
their facility and providing detailed information about the process.
NRDC’s sports greening work has also prompted the formation of
the Green Sports Alliance, an unprecedented collaboration of professional sports teams
from six major sports leagues, coming together to advance an environmental
agenda.
The result: A win for all of us.
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