Green Sports Alliance Members Celebrate World Water Day, Earth Hour & Earth Day
Green Sports Alliance members are making a significant effort this year to engage internal staff, athletes and fans in this year’s Earth Day celebrations. On April 22, 2015 teams across a variety of sports leagues will host green games, community recycling events, in-arena activities for fans, tree plantings and many other activities to honor Earth Day.The Houston Dynamo are set to amplify their daily commitment to the environment with the Dynamo Recycles Day at BBVA Compass Stadium for Earth Day.The Arizona Diamondbacks, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, St.Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners are leading the way alongside MLB by hosting Green Games and fan engagement activities on Earth Day.The NHL continued their water restoration efforts this year with the Gallons for Goals program, as well as several clubs’ participation in Change the Course to encourage fans to pledge to reduce their water consumption. These efforts, combined with the individual NHL Club’s Earth Day activities such as the MN Wild and Xcel Energy Center’s Adopt-a-River engagement and the San Jose Sharks’ SAP Center water efficient toilet retrofit reveal are gaining recognition across the nation. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy penned a post featured on NHL Green Slapshots Blog highlighting the importance of water conversation and the leadership of NHL in green sports.Not only are teams participating in events on Earth Day, they have been leading efforts around environmental stewardship for the past few months, participating in World Water Day on March 22nd, Earth Hour on March 28th, and several other green events that teams have established.47 AEG Facilities-Affiliated Venues went dark on March 28th, joining the global awareness-raising Earth Hour campaign in support of the environment.The NBA hosted their annual Green Week starting on March 24, where the vast majority of teams made specific efforts to educate fans about the sustainable operations at their arenas. Some teams even hosted multiple events and engaged sponsors in environmentally-focused fan activations.The Miami HEAT, Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks worked alongside their communities and schools, generating environmental awareness by constructing or restoring natural habitats to enhance the local environment and native wildlife.Other teams, such as the Detroit Lions, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs, educated fans about the importance of recycling. Many teams involved the local business communities as well. The Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies have hosted various forums, panels or events focused on connecting sustainably-minded businesses, community organizations and fans.Extending environmental engagements beyond Earth Month, MLB is planning a number of green sports initiatives around 2015 MLB All-Star Game activities in Cincinnati this summer.The number of events and the leagues, teams and venues participating in Earth Month-related activities is so great, it has become too expansive to properly summarize and honor in a brief blog posting. In addition to the growing participation, sports entities are increasingly leading their own efforts and becoming champions of environmental stewardship every day, greatly helping to advance the green sports movement.Follow along on Twitter at @SportsAlliance and #GreenSports to stay up-to-date on all the green sports action!