Good Sports

Writer Mary Hoff
@mkhoff Science writer & editor

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September 5, 2013 — Bright lights, frequent flights, mounds of plastic cups and food wrappers strewn in their wake — spectator sports offer plenty of room for improvement from a sustainability perspective. But where to start? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new Green Sports Resource Directory offers a stadium full of suggestions for how college and pro facilities, leagues and fans can reduce their environmental footprints while saving money, too.

The online directory offers pep talks on benefits of greening sports as well as calculators for measuring success and links to recognition programs that groups can use to motivate participation in sustainability-boosting activities. A Green Sports Scoreboard and “Success Stories” page provide concrete examples — from one town’s effort to turn a Superfund site into soccer fields to the National Hockey League’s “Hat Tricks for Trees” initiative to save Brazilian forests — of how teams, stadium owners, communities and others have teamed up to score big benefits for the planet. Photo by Rhys A. (Flickr | Creative Commons)

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Good Sports

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