Boston Red Sox celebrate Earth Day
In March, Major League Baseball partnered with the National Resource Defense Council to reduce the league's environmental impact. Each team was issued a Team Greening Adviser, and will be taking steps over the course of season to make their organizations more sustainable. We'll be checking in with a new team every Tuesday to see how our favorite ball clubs are working toward a better planet.
The Red Sox are celebrating Earth Day in style this year. For starters, all players and on-field staff will be dressed in special uniforms adorned with the club's snazzy new greening logo -- nice. But this wardrobe adaptation is just one part of a larger ceremony in which the Red Sox will receive an Environmental Merit award from the EPA in recognition of their efforts to run a greener organization. Very nice.
In return, the Sox are letting the Administrator of the EPA and the Founding Director of the NRDC through out a joint ceremonial first pitch. Now, if I worked at the EPA, that would've been reason enough to give the team whatever award they wanted -- whether they'd started any new environmental programs or not. But rest assured, Boston has been taking significant steps to making their operations more eco-friendly. Here's just a few of the new green initiatives you'll see at Fenway this year:
The Red Sox are celebrating Earth Day in style this year. For starters, all players and on-field staff will be dressed in special uniforms adorned with the club's snazzy new greening logo -- nice. But this wardrobe adaptation is just one part of a larger ceremony in which the Red Sox will receive an Environmental Merit award from the EPA in recognition of their efforts to run a greener organization. Very nice. In return, the Sox are letting the Administrator of the EPA and the Founding Director of the NRDC through out a joint ceremonial first pitch. Now, if I worked at the EPA, that would've been reason enough to give the team whatever award they wanted -- whether they'd started any new environmental programs or not. But rest assured, Boston has been taking significant steps to making their operations more eco-friendly. Here's just a few of the new green initiatives you'll see at Fenway this year:
- Solar power: "This spring the Red Sox will become the first professional sports team in the Boston area to install solar panels. Scheduled to be operational by mid-May, the solar thermal panels will be installed on the roof behind home plate to help heat water used throughout the facility. The panels will replace 37% of the gas traditionally used for the process, saving both energy and expense, and avoid 18 tons of CO2 emissions each year."
- The Poland Spring Green Team: "On Opening Day fans were introduced to the Poland Spring Green Team, a corps of 30-50 volunteers per game who will spread throughout the seating bowl during inning breaks to gather plastic bottles and educate fans on recycling. The Green Team is the first of its kind in professional sports and is comprised primarily of local college students. All team members wear specially-designed hats and t-shirts featuring the new Red Sox recycling logo."
- A greener field: "Ongoing maintenance features irrigation timing and diagnostic controls are set to minimize water and fertilizer use. The fundamental task of cutting the grass has "gone green" with mowers powered by biodiesel fuel, which is non-petroleum based and clean burning, and grass clippings are left to naturally decompose to help reduce the amount of fertilizer and water needed to sustain healthy turf. This year the grounds crew will also use two electric-powered utility carts, which are both noise and pollution-free."
- Sustainable refreshments: Another long-time Red Sox partner, ARAMARK, is also doing its part to bring environmentally-sustainable practices to Fenway Park. All beverage and food containers used at the ballpark will be made from recyclable materials and all restaurant grease will be recycled by a certified vendor. It has also committed to using more items that are locally grown, which require less shipping and therefore use less energy and produce less pollution.
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