13 February 2012 | Linton Nightingale
Carbon, Climate Change, North America

 

Houston's Reliant Stadium purchased carbon offsets into wind and solar power projects as part of the NRDC's initiative at the NCAA's Final Four.

The NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) has pioneered the ‘greening’ of professional sports in the United States, acting as the principle environmental advisor to the country’s major sporting organizations.

Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the United States Tennis Association (USTA), and the National Football League (NFL) have all collaborated in what the NRDC see as the most successful sports greening initiative the world has ever seen. To have all the professional leagues on board sends a strong message in the continuing fight against climate change.

The initiative has provided over 100 professional teams in the United States with the guidance and expertise needed in mitigating the environmental impact of modern sporting events, their arenas and respective facilities. Included in this, is the work that the NRDC has undertaken in reducing the carbon footprint at some of American sport’s flagship events, such as the MLB’s All-Star game, the NCAA’s final four and the prestigious US Open at New York’s Flushing Meadows.

By taking sport as a tool to promote environmental awareness, the NRDC hope that the message will get across to the multi-million dollar supply chain that exists in professional sport and America as a whole. By creating a more responsible model for environmental practice and a commitment to the goal of environmental sustainability and by showing that it is undertaking substantial efforts to attain that objective, the NRDC hope to strengthen the ideal of caring for the environment. This will in turn help accelerate a cultural shift as to how America views environmental issues. The stronger the message conveyed in sport then the more accepted the practice will be in everyday life at a business and consumer level.

Waxing philosophically to the National Geographic, the NRDC’s Allen Hershkowitz makes it clear that greening sports is not going to “save the world”, but does stress the importance of sport setting a cultural standard. “Professional sports are industrial leaders and cultural leaders, and that's why it means something that they are embracing environmentalism,” Allen explains. Allen hopes that with sport taking the lead people will begin to realize that an “environmental criteria” is an essential part of any business now and in the future.
 

Implementing Green Practices in Sport

Greening the Supply Chain

As part of the NRDC’s focus on the greening of sports, the charity has published a series of online recommendations to help staff and operatives at the country’s major sporting stadia realise superior operational methods as well as environmentally and economically effective supply chain practices. The NRDC Greening Advisor has been sent to the offices of 106 MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS teams, as well as the USTA, with the recommendations sent to each office specific to its given location. The NRDC Greening Advisor received the honor of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Merit Award in 2008.

Implementing Solar Technology - Why Go Solar?

By embracing the use of solar power teams from the MLB, NHL, NBA and the MLS could minimise their carbon footprint considerably with the introduction of solar technology at their stadia and training facilities. The NRDC and Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) recently sent a letter to all the major teams across the leagues stressing not only the environmental advantages of implementing such technology but the financial incentives. As well as the letter the two organizations sent with it a detailed guide on solar development and how each specific stadium can add on-site solar power generation to its energy supply. The guide provides a blueprint for stadium owners as to how they can facilitate solar power by installing a solar electrical system, with an overview of the advantages and challenges faced in its installation. However, the guides focus is aimed at highlighting the cost benefits of implementing solar technology, by providing cost estimates and the possible savings to the owner if solar power is installed.

Green Events

The Greenest Ever MLB All-Star Game

The MLB All-Star game in Phoenix earlier this month can be proud of the fact that it was the ‘greenest ever” game in the history of the league, with the NRDC using the event to showcase how environmental practices can be implemented at the highest level of spectator sport. Recycling was at the forefront of the initiative, as wherever possible the material waste from consumer goods, such as food cartons and drink bottles, were collected by the ever present “All-Star Green Teams”. To help reduce the environmental footprint of the event further it was offset with Green-e Certified renewable energy credits, and complimentary Metro light rail passes were distributed to volunteers.

A Green US Open

As one of the four majors, the US Open at New York’s Flushing Meadows is seen as one of the highlights on the tennis calendar, due to its rowdy crowds and partisan atmosphere. The USTA, in partnership with the NRDC, began its green effort at the 2008 US Open with the tournament’s first bottled water and aluminum recycling program. Since then the environmental effort by the NRDC in conjunction with the tournament’s organizers has come on leaps and bounds. For example just by introducing a post-consumer recycled tournament programme, the USTA has saved a staggering 2,123 gallons of water, 129 pounds of solid waste and has prevented the emission of 441 pounds of CO2- equivalent greenhouse gases. The tournament was also put under the spotlight by environmental consultants who were brought in by the NRDC and the USTA to recommend improvements that could be introduced at future tournaments. The improvements which have since been introduced include the placement of recycling stations throughout the grounds, the supply of electricity exclusively provided by wind energy, the use of recycled consumer products and the mass recycling of the tournament tennis balls.

Reducing the Carbon Footprint at the Final Four

The NCAA Final Four is seen as one of the most culturally influential sporting events in the United States, as the national college basketball league reaches its penultimate stage. Therefore the games were seen as the perfect platform for the NRDC to push its message of greening sports at such a high profile event. At the 2011 games the NRDC along with LG Electronics, Waste Management, Reliant Park, the City of Houston, and the George R Brown Convention Center founded the NCAA Final Four Sustainability Committee, a collective brought together to reduce the carbon and ecological footprint of the games. The committee not only sought different ways in which the games could reduce its ecological footprint, but used the games to help promote environmental awareness to the 400,000 NCAA athletes, stadium spectators and the millions tuning in on their television sets.

The George R Brown Convention Center, located in downtown Houston, used renewable wind power within its energy supply and installed solar panels to provide power to its emergency power systems. Additionally the venue installed 60 percent more energy efficient water pumps that had been used in previous years. Houston’s Reliant Stadium purchased carbon offsets into wind and solar power projects from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, saving 210 tonnes in CO2 emissions in the process.

Each stadium provided spectators with 600 recycling bins and a reminder to ‘act responsibly’ by recycling their waste that was projected on the jumbotron screen at least four times each game. As with other NRDC sponsored events, the games used post-consumer recycled content wherever possible, used green-certified cleaning products only and made sure that a good percentage of food produce was sourced locally.

 

Image 1: Marv G4 | Wikimedia Commons

Image 2: Chris Bills, Chris Erickson, Calla Leonard, Patrina Eiffert | Wikimedia Commons

Image 3: Edwin Martinez | Flickr

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