Greening The Super Bowl
For the second year, the 2008 Super Bowl is running on renewable energy – well…renewable energy credits, rather. Did you know that the NFL has a Director of Environment? Did you know that the NFL has had an environmental program for the last 14 years? I sure didn’t.
The NFL is working with the Salt River Project (SRP) to deliver renewable energy credits from wind and solar sources. In addition to this, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, SRP, the US Forest Service and the White Mountain Apache tribe will replant 42-acres of trees which were recently wiped out in a large forest fire.
I’m not sure I’d exactly call an event like the Super Bowl where a reported 400+ private jets landed carbon-neutral. Sure – that has no affiliation with the NFL itself, but it is still contributing to the problem. At least the NFL is trying their best to make the world a better place where they can. They work with local waste management to control the recycling of the solid waste from the game and events surrounding it. The NFL also partnered with Expedia and TerraPass to offset the travel of the two teams and their staff.
Jim Holway, associate director of the Global Institute for Sustainability at Arizona State University, said what Super Bowl officials are trying to do is meaningful.
“It’s encouraging to see it’s getting this kind of attention,” he said. “Awareness is what it’s all about at this point … a year or two ago the mainstream wouldn’t have even thought about carbon impact.”
If you’d like to hear more, check out this interview on NPR’s All Things Considered with Jack Grohl, Evironmental Director for the NFL.
Source: AZSuperBowl.com, CNN.com
PS – Congrats to the Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants.
Hey Jason –
We are on the same wave length on Sunday… which is to say possibly more concerned with the energy around the field that on the field in AZ. I agree with your point, the NFL’s efforts were luke warm at best. Some suggestions to further enhance their current green-strategy would be to use hybrid cars to transport players, or encouraging fans to utilize the same beer cup by offering refill discounts. I’m sure I could come up with more (but too tired tonight)!
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