Friday, February 25, 2011

Sporting Green

No, we're not talking about golf ... we're talking about ways to make your sports and other spring/summer activities more environmentally friendly. Earlier this week we shared some equipment tips; today it's all about the activities themselves.

One of the easiest - and most significant - things we can all do is pick up litter. If every sports fan picked up and properly disposed of just one piece of litter per year, more than 1,480 tons of unsightly trash could be removed from trails, beaches, lakes, rivers, forests, oceans, and other fragile ecosystems. That's enough to fill 185 garbage trucks! And it goes without saying that you should always dispose of your own garbage in a properly marked container.

Here are some other sports-specific tips:

Baseball/Softball - You can save energy by scheduling daytime games for your baseball and softball leagues. A single field can use an average of 72,000 kwh of energy annually for nighttime lighting. This much energy could keep your house lit for 60 years! In the U.S., more than 33 million youth participate in organized ball teams. If just 10 percent of these teams rescheduled one evening game for a daylight hour, the energy saved could broadcast MLB's all-star game on 11 million TV's.
Basketball - Take your daytime pickup game outside. You'll save energy as well as wear and tear on the indoor court. Gymnasium lighting can consume over 60,000 kwh per year, much of which isn't needed during the day anyway. If you get the chance, check out one of the more than 100 courts around the country made from the soles of recycled athletic shoes - they're cropping up in lots of major cities, including Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C.
Football and soccer - If you have the choice, choose playing on natural grass over artificial turf. Natural grass is renewable, and clippings can be composted. Grasses produce oxygen, remove air pollutants, filter rainwater, and maintain cooler surface temperatures. Artificial turf production is energy intensive and uses synthetic materials, none of which are recyclable. And artificial fields last for an average of just 10 years, after which they are pulled up and taken to - you guessed it - the landfill.
Golf - Try visiting one of the hundreds of conservation-minded courses in the U.S. that have committed to decreasing water consumption, reducing chemicals, preserving native landscapes, and protecting wildlife habitats. If an additional 1 percent of the 16,000 courses in the U.S. adopted water conservation strategies, we'd save enough water to restore a wetland the size of Augusta National Golf Club.
Surfing - When you're vying for better beach access, remember to keep your vehicle on paved roads or marked pathways, and never drive across sand dunes. You'll save on gas, protect coastal habitats, prevent erosion, and ensure a future of good surf.
Tennis - Play outdoor tennis during daylight hours in order to prevent the need for energy-intensive nighttime lighting. Lighting for a single court can consume more than 4,700 kwh of energy per year, enough to power the average household for about six months.
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These simple steps give the earth the biggest impact and require just a little effort on our part.
Green sports tips courtesy of The Green Book: The everyday guide to saving the planet one simple step at a time.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Spring is in the air

With apologies to the regular readers we have - or may have once had - the Christ Church Green Team blog is back up and running! We took a break to regroup a bit, but the Green Team is back and ready for action this spring and summer. One of the coolest things we're planning is a month-long Green celebration during the month of July ... stay tuned for more information as the summer gets closer.

In the meantime, spring is right around the corner, and with the warmer weather come outdoor activities ... including lots of sports! No matter what you choose to play, it's likely that you can take small steps to make your sports a little greener:

Equipment:
Bags - Choose duffel bags and backpacks made from recycled materials over those made from petroleum-derived virgin polyester or PVC, which is less recyclable. For each bag purchased, you could safe the equivalent of 15 two-liter soda bottles from going into landfills.
Balls - If you buy tennis balls (for yourself or your pet), consider purchasing the pressureless variety. Pressureless tennis balls are not only longer lasting than their pressurized counterparts, but they're sold in a recyclable paper box or mesh bag instead of plastic or metal. There are 360 million tennis balls manufactured each year; if an additional 25 percent of these were pressureless, the plastic tubes saved would stretch from Queens, NY, to Wimbledon, England.
Bikes - Choose a bike with a steel frame over an aluminum frame and you'll conserve at least 25 kwh of energy. Steel frames can be made of recycled materials, whereas aluminum frames must be manufactured from new ore, and therefore require more energy to make.
Bats - Since aluminum is the most energy-intensive of all materials made in the U.S., consider using a bat made of renewable wood or even bamboo. You'll help reduce pollution and conserve the energy equivalent of almost a gallon of gasoline per bat. If one in ten Little League players opted for non aluminum bats, the total energy saved could transport 10,000 fans from all over the country to watch the Little League World Series in Pennsylvania.
Water - Water is a must in the sports world - it replenishes the body, and it's important to keep plenty on hand. For many athletes, though, this means cases and cases of plastic water bottles - bottles which eventually end up in landfills. Instead, buy an aluminum water bottle and refill it. If two of three sports fans refilled a water bottle rather than buying a new one each time, it would save about as many plastic bottles as there are people in the U.S.
Borrow or buy used! - Try purchasing used equipment. If 5 percent of the money spent on new sporting goods were directed at used items instead, Americans could save $250 million per year - enough to buy solar panels for 20,000 houses.

Later this week, we'll share ideas for greening up your participation in spring and summer sports!

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Green sports tips courtesy of The Green Book: The everyday guide to saving the planet one simple step at a time.