In order to respond to today’s energy and global warming crisis, Major Leagues Baseball has developed some innovative eco friendly solutions. In conjunction with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the league came up with a number of eco friendly services and recommendations to help make the league as green as their splendid infields.
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In March 2008, the baseball league announced their partnership with the NRDC and several environmental moves that were several years in the making. The suggested an increase in the use of renewable energy, a greater use of recycled products and products made from biodegradable materials, a paper reduction program and the ever-growing carbon offsets where teams can pay up to one half of the carbon costs of their travel to the NRDC. These were not mandated changes and they hired a consultant who will visit each ball club to work with them to improve their eco friendly ways.
The so-named “Team NRDC Greening Program” is the first time major leagues baseball has adopted a league-wide environmental protection strategy in order to combat their environment impact and to satisfy the increasingly demanding consumer . The early indication is that is has some traction across the league. The first event to benefit from this new direction was the 2008 All Star Game. The game, played at Yankee Stadium in New York last summer, was powered 100% by donated wind power, used hybrid buses to brings fans to the stadium for those not on the subway, used materials that were recycled and biodegradable and also gave out 700,000 re-usable grocery bags to fans. The new Yankee Stadium has not received such great reviews. Besides low flow toilets, the energy savings have not been signification. The stadium complex is expected to use 20,000 megawatts of power each night–enough for 20,000 homes.
The green, eco friendly solutions have also spread to the individual ball clubs. The Washington Nationals began playing this season in a brand-new $311 million stadium that was the first to be built up to the standards of the Green Building Council. The instituted designs were lighting that was energy efficient, low-flow sinks and toilets, and recycling bins with recycled materials. Eco friendly services include VIP parking for hybrid vehicles. The Nationals were not alone in this campaign. Both the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox have installed solar panels to their older-built stadiums. Other clubs have begun food waste recycle programs and many have switched their concession stands to bio-made materials.
But the eco friendly ways of the league also extend into their communities. One example is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. They have developed an innovative program to recognize organizations in the Tampa Bay area that have implemented eco friendly solutions in their own business. So far they have honored six area businesses with $1,000, 20 game tickets and recognition on the field during the game. Since the league needs each team to adopt measure on their own major leagues baseball still has some work ahead of them but the early results look great.