NBA Teams Encourage Fans to Go Green During Leaguewide Green Week

NBA Teams Encourage Fans to Go Green During Leaguewide Green Week
April 8, 2013
Posted by:
Alex Tryon

For the fifth straight season, the NBA has teamed with the Natural Resources Defense Council to celebrate Green Week from April 4-12. In partnership with league sponsor Sprint, the NBA is working with its franchises to support initiatives that increase awareness and promote sustainable action by fans.As part of the leaguewide effort, the NBA is launching its new Mosaic tracking program to allow all 30 NBA teams to track, analyze, and identify cost savings opportunities within their environmental footprint. The 67 contests held during Green Week will offset all electricity use in collaboration with renewable energy supplier Sterling Planet, which will help avoid the release of more than 10 million pounds of carbon into the atmosphere.In addition, official on-court apparel provider adidas is outfitting every player with 100% organic cotton shooting shirts. Players and coaches will also be donning other NBA Green gear to help promote the initiative. Another league sponsor, Sprint, is working with the league to promote electronic waste recycling with their “Pledge to Recycle”- by pledging to recycle old mobile devices, fans will be entered in a contest for a chance to win a grand prize trip for two to the 2013 NBA Finals.“The NBA is thrilled to once again partner with Sprint for NBA Green Week,” said Todd Jacobson, the NBA’s senior vice president of social responsibility. “We have a shared commitment to environmental protection and are proud to team up in a collective effort to raise fan awareness and participation around conservation.”Teams around the league are also stepping up their own green programs to further promote sustainability both during Green Week and throughout the month of April. Some of the additional events spearheaded by Green Sports Alliance members include:

  • The Portland Trail Blazers will host their annual “Bike to Blazers” event in conjunction with their Green Awareness Game against the Dallas Mavericks on April 7. Fans will meet at a site downtown to ride across the Willamette River along a predetermined route to the Rose Garden for that night’s matchup, with the Blazers providing overflow bicycle parking beyond their normal 200-bike capacity.
  • The Toronto Raptors will be hosting an NBA Green Night to showcase their successful reduction of utility consumption by 10% and greenhouse gases by 30% and diversion of 74% of waste from landfill at the Air Canada Centre.
  • The Philadelphia 76ers will also host a Go Green Night on April 10 during their game against the Atlanta Hawks, with the team showcasing the energy renovation project undertaken on April 1 at Philadelphia’s Shepard Recreation Center by a half-dozen Sixers players in conjunction with local utility PECO.

    • “NBA Green Week stands alone among all professional sports greening initiatives. No other league dedicates an entire week to educating millions of fans about environmental sustainability,” said NRDC senior scientist Allen Hershkowitz. “The NBA’s commitment to offset the electricity used during Green Week games will result in a carbon avoidance of more than 10 million pounds; that’s one of the largest pollution offset initiatives by any sports league worldwide. And with the launch of a comprehensive environmental data gathering system, the NBA takes their commitment one more giant step forward by improving the way every team’s arena is managed from now on. These sustainability initiatives confirm why the league is regarded as one of the world’s most responsible sports organizations.” The NBA Plays Green with the Help of NRDC

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