EPA Launches Online Green Sports Resource Directory

The EPA has launched an online Green Sports Resource Directory that it says can help teams, venues and leagues save money and reduce carbon pollution, and improve waste management, water and energy conservation, and other sustainability efforts.

Additionally, the new directory contains information that can help teams gain recognition for their programs that reduce the environmental impact of their events. EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe announced the directory during the third annual Green Sports Alliance summit in New York City, which kicked off yesterday.

The EPA is a founding partner of the Green Sports Allinace, an organization that aims to reduce sports’ impact on the environment. The agency says the directory supports President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, which emphasizes cutting carbon emissions and boosting energy efficiency.

The EPA has also compiled a Green Scoreboard that highlights a number of winning efforts across numerous sports leagues and some statistics on the environmental and saving benefits.

In other sports sustainability news, more than 200 college sports programs — including leaders from the Big Ten, Pac-12, Ivy League, and SEC athletics conferences — are prioritizing greener practices such as installing solar panels, undergoing energy efficiency audits and water conservation upgrades, and collecting recycling and composting at games, according to a report released yesterday.

Collegiate Game Changers, produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council in collaboration with the Green Sports Alliance and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, documents for the first time the breadth of sustainability measures underway at collegiate sports departments all across the country, NRDC says.

Report findings include:

• At least 216 collegiate sports departments have installed recycling infrastructure throughout their sports facilities.
• At least 146 collegiate sports departments have invested in more energy efficient practices by upgrading their lighting and controls.
• At least 116 collegiate sports departments have upgraded to water efficient fixtures.
• At least 88 collegiate sports departments have pursued LEED certifications, with at least 24 certified sports venues to date.
• At least 23 collegiate sports departments have installed onsite solar energy production systems.

The report also includes 10 detailed case studies highlighting sustainability efforts at University of Colorado Boulder, University of North Texas, the Ohio State University, University of Florida, Arizona State University, University of Oregon, University of Minnesota, the University of Arizona, University of Washington and Yale University.

For example, the Ohio State University’s Ohio Stadium, with 105,000 seats, is the largest venue in the country to achieve greater than 90 percent diversion of waste from landfill (reaching a top diversion rate of 98.2 percent).

And the University of Arizona’s LEED Platinum certified Recreation Center has high-efficiency plumbing that reduced its water use by 48 percent, the report says.

Last week, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) joined forces with the Green Sports Alliance to promote green building initiatives and accelerate LEED-certified venues in professional and collegiate sports.