Climate Wave is excited to see that there is some movement towards green sports and in this case from North America. The has formed to encourage sporting bodies to become environmentally conscious and spread the word to fans and sponsors.
We are starting to find pockets of organisations around the world that
like us feel that sporting events can go green and use this platform to
spread the message of sustainability.
(This below is an excerpt from the Green Sports Alliance website)
The
founding members include the Vancouver Canucks (NHL), the Seattle Storm
(WNBA), the Seattle Mariners (MLB), the Seattle Seahawks (NFL), the
Portland Trail Blazers (NBA) and the Seattle Sounders FC (MLS). The
founding partners of the Alliance are the Natural Resources Defense
Council, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, United States
Environmental Protection Agency, Portland State Institute for
Sustainable Solutions, Green Building Services, Coates Kokes, Green Bear
Group, Lane Powell and Milepost Consulting.
Over the
past year, venue operators, sports marketing directors and environmental
scientists have collaborated to exchange their real world experiences
and create metrics that are meaningful and measurable. The information
gathered from this collaboration is now available to members and
partners not only to gain a better understanding of the impact sporting
events have on the environment, but also to provide inspiration and a
roadmap for teams and venues to make changes to reduce that impact.
It
is heartening to see that the clubs mentioned above understand by
sustainably managing their events opens up opportunities to gain new
sponsors and creates enormous avenues for positive educational messages
to the public.
Back home this Easter sees one of Australia’s
greenest competitions in The Rip Curl Pro – the world’s longest running
and most prestigious professional surfing contest and this year is
celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Bells Beach Easter Rally and the
Rip Curl Pro in Australia’s surfing home of Torquay from April 19 to
April 30. The work that takes place at Bells Beach is done through
their environmental arm (Keep up the great work Rip Curl)
The
practise of environmentally managing sporting events is still in its
infancy especially here in Australia. If your local sports organisations
adhere to sustainable practises let us know we would be very interested
in promoting their cause. Speaking of causes our facebook cause “”
has hit a milestone of over 200 members and climbing. If you haven’t
joined as yet now is a good time to add your name to the growing list of
environmentally conscious sports fans.
working for the planet
Greg Howell & Guil Araujo