| Ten Ways to Make All Sports Green |
| Written by Guy Dauncey | ||||
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It’s fun. It keeps us fit and teaches cooperative teamwork. And as a way of channeling competitive aggression, it beats fighting bloody wars any day. But can sports be healthy and sustainable for the planet, as well as for us? 1. Commit to Team Sustainability Unless someone cares, nothing happens. Going green requires leadership, to pull people together and start making a difference. You’ll find good advice in the Sustainable Sports and Event Toolkit. Sustainable Sport: www.sustainable-sport.org Global Forum for Sports and the Environment: www.g-forse.com The Sustainable Sport Source: www.greengold.on.ca 2. Walk, Cycle or Carpool to your Game How about having a “green journeys” scorecard, with awards for members of your club or team at the end of each season? In England, Chelsea Football Club has installed shower facilities for staff who run or cycle to work, offers loans to encourage its staff to buy bicycles, and encourages its staff to use more public transport. Chelsea Football Club’s Full Environmental Policy: www.bit.ly/30cxV 3. Become a Zero Waste Team All those drinks and energy bars, hamburgers, and hot dogs—there’s plenty of trash-talk there. In Boulder, the University of Colorado is making Folsom Field the first zero-waste football stadium in the US, replacing trash bins with recycling and composting bins, and having 50 student-monitored zero-waste stations around the stadium to help spectators. “Ralphie’s Green Stampede” is now expanding to all U of C athletic activities, with a goal of 90 per cent waste diversion. Ralphie’s Green Stampede: www.bit.ly/4zpFZm 4. Build Green Facilities Why keep your buildings old-fashioned brown, when they could be energy-efficient green? The Atlanta Thrashers’ Philips Arena is the first NBA or NHL arena to achieve LEED green building certification for upgrading an existing facility. In the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung, the new 55,000-seat stadium is 70 per cent powered by the sun, with a stunning spiral roof covered with 8,844 solar panels. Taiwan’s Solar-Powered Stadium: www.bit.ly/zXbky 5. Offset Your Carbon Emissions In a country like Canada, many teams have to travel long distances. But NHL players like Andrew Ference, Jarome Iginla and others have signed up to become carbon neutral with Gold Standard carbon offsets. So have the Alberta Alpine Team, the Canadian National Men’s Eight Boat Rowing Team, many members of Canada’s ski team, and champions including Adam van Koeverden, Rob Weitemeyer and Hayley Wickenheiser. How about your club does the same? Athletes for a Cooler Climate: www.climateprojectcanada.org/cool NHL Players go Carbon Neutral - Challenge to Fans: www.bit.ly/5PpNBx 6. Love Your Body Your body is part of nature, so don’t go on a crazy diet just because you’re an athlete. Good nutrition is important, but it’s equally important to love yourself for who you are. Keep on exercising and eating well, but don’t force your body to be what it’s not. Body Sense: www.bodysense.ca 7. Buy Green Gear It’s easy to choose cheap gear, without pausing to think that young people might have to spend hours in a sweatshop making your team uniform or soccer balls. Food served to volunteers doesn't need to be in Styrofoam dishes. How about Fair Trade soccer balls? Organic T-shirts? Fair Trade Sports: www.fairtradesports.com MEC - Environment and Ethical Sourcing: http://blog.mec.ca/environment_ethical_sourcing/ 8. Play for the Planet In Nairobi, Kenya, 2,000 teenagers gathered in November 2009 for 'Play for the Planet: Play for Peace', a series of soccer games and environmental activities, using the power of sport to promote peace and reconciliation among Kenyans, and provide a positive environment for the young people who are so affected by hardship, violence, and poverty. First Nairobi—next Rio, Cairo, or Toronto? We need to Play for the Planet everywhere. Play for the Planet: www.unep.org/sport_env 9. Make the Olympics Green Every Olympics should showcase the greenest possible games. Wherever the games are held, there’s an awful lot of flying involved. How many athletes and other participants will take Vancouver up on its challenge to make the entire 2010 Winter Games carbon neutral? Will Vancouver make the grade for being the greenest games ever? Vancouver Olympics Sustainability Pages: www.vancouver2010.com/sustainability 10. Help Nature Flourish Wherever there are sports, nature waits to be either trampled or cherished. What if every golf course stopped using chemical pesticides, and ceased harming local wildlife for the sake of the perfect green? What if every playing field included trees and native plants around the perimeter? In London, for the 2012 Olympics, 45 hectares of wildlife habitats are being created within the Olympic Park, including habitats for otters, amphibians and invertebrates. They are also installing 525 bird boxes and 150 bat boxes in venues, buildings and bridges. London Olympics Sustainability Pages: www.bit.ly/6JUnCu Golf and the Environment: www.golfenvironment.org Guy Dauncey is author of the recently published book The Climate Challenge: 101 Solutions to Global Warming.
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