Red Sox: Champions for the Planet

Under the team's new sustainability plan, Boston's Fenway Park could be greener than the Green Monster

Imagine this: you're at Fenway Park on a warm summer evening. You look down from your seat above the Green Monster as the Boston Red Sox beat the Yankees 7-0. As usual, the sold-out crowd -- never known for being sedate -- is erupting in joyous pandemonium, dreaming of yet another World Series victory. But something's different. You buy your kids hot dogs, only now they're organic. Instead of throwing your empty beer cup under your seat, you toss it in a brightly colored, easy-to-reach bin that is part of the ballpark's extensive recycling program. And that faint rumble you would sometimes hear -- it's gone. The stadium generators have been supplemented with solar panels perched just above the stands behind first base. Now Red Sox Nation has another reason to celebrate.

This is not fantasy baseball. Over the past three years, NRDC has been working with professional sports teams to revamp their operations, with the goal of lightening the organizations' impact on the environment. When you consider that nearly 120 million people turned out to watch baseball games in 2007, the collective impact of fans gathering in one place becomes clear: plastic cups, paper napkins, field lights -- they all require energy and resources and generate waste.

"When that many people start seeing solar panels next to scoreboards and recycled paper logos on game-day programs, it brings environmental awareness into the mainstream," says Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at NRDC whose work includes helping major corporations -- most recently sports teams -- go green. "What if, in addition to baseball and apple pie, we could make environmental protection All American too?"

That's what Hershkowitz set out to do two years ago when he sent a letter to Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball. Hershkowitz offered NRDC's technical assistance on everything from buying renewable power to using recycled paper. Selig seized the opportunity: just weeks earlier, Red Sox management had called the commissioner asking for advice on going green.

"We are the oldest continuously operated sports facility in America," says Katie Kirschner, senior manager of business operations for the Red Sox. "We thought, wouldn't it be great if we led the charge by becoming the most sustainable ballpark in the country too?"

In 2007, the Red Sox, in collaboration with NRDC, kicked off a five-year sustainability plan, and by the time Fenway turns 100, in 2012, the park could be as green as its legendary Green Monster. NRDC has pledged to help the team reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent and recover 50 percent of its recyclable drink containers. NRDC is now working with Selig's office to launch an environmental initiative that will encourage every team to buy an increasing percentage of its electricity from renewable sources, use paper with at least 30 percent post-consumer content, and keep at least 40 percent of stadium waste from entering landfills through recycling, reusing, and composting programs.

The Oakland Athletics, the Seattle Mariners, and the Cleveland Indians are already working toward NRDC's greening targets, and the trend extends beyond the baseball diamond: professional basketball, hockey, and football teams are looking to set similar goals, with the Philadelphia Eagles driving the offense.

The Eagles launched a program to green their operations in 2004, and with guidance from NRDC, the team now gets 25 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources. The stadium is plastered with posters featuring linebackers saying, "You want to talk trash? Let's recycle." The scoreboard -- the largest in the NFL -- is powered by solar panels that are visible from the field.

Educating fans can make a big difference, not just in the shadow of the Green Monster, but across the nation. Says Katie Kirschner: "Our hope is that we can influence our fans in their daily lives."