By We here at GreenSportsBlog love the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
It is Zero Waste. It is the model for greening all golf tournaments. Plus they had a caddy race during the actual tournament*. And now, the Waste Management Phoenix Open is getting even greener.
How can the Waste Management Phoenix Open get any greener? It’s already Zero-Waste. In fact, the best attended tournament (500,000+ fans annually) on the PGA Tour has diverted 100 percent of its waste from landfill in 2013 and 2014, via recycling, composting and waste-to-energy programs. You read that right: 100 percent diversion from landfill!
So, we ask again: How can the greenest golf tournament in the US get greener?
By water conservation/restoration, that’s how!
According to a story in yesterday’s Environmental Leader, the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open, which takes place Jan 25-Feb 1, will sponsor Change The Course, a “first-of-its kind water sustainability campaign that supports water flow restoration projects (that include) Northern Arizona’s Verde River (which flows into canals that provide water to the tournament course) and throughout the Colorado River Basin.” Rivers like the Verde have suffered from drought and over usage and thus water supplies are threatened. Water restoration projects are managed by non-profit B-E-F, which has handled similar programs for the National Hockey League. In fact, the NHL, through NHL Green is also sponsoring Change The Course.
View of the Verde River in Arizona. Funds raised by Change The Course, an effort sponsored in part by the Waste Management Phoenix Open, help to restore water to the Verde and other challenged rivers in the US and Canada. Water restoration efforts are managed by non-profit B-E-F. (Photo Credit: Arizona Sierra Club)
The goal of the program is to help millions change their water-use behavior. The tournament will use social media and an engaging microsite to encourage attendees and followers to pledge to conserve water. One pledge will lead to the restoration of 1,000 gallons of water back into the Colorado River Basin. There will also be a Change the Course booth at the Fan Fest Expo at next month’s tournament.
Change The Course water restoration pledge page. Each pledge will lead to the restoration of 1,000 gallons of water into the Colorado River Basin. To pledge, visit: http://wmpo.changethecourse.us
Waste Management’s water conservation efforts at the event will go beyond Change The Course:
- Greywater — wastewater generated from the concessionaire’s kitchens — is recycled for use in tournament portable restrooms.
- Vendor Water Use Monitoring: W-M will work with vendors to monitor their water use, with the goal being to decrease overall consumption vs. 2014.
- Purchase of B-E-F Water Restoration Certificates to offset the freshwater use during the tournament (95,000 gallons in 2014.)
Yes, GreenSportsBlog’s love for the Waste Management Phoenix Open continues to grow, unabated. We will express that love by joining the Change The Course pledge–and we urge you to do the same!
* Here’s a link to a video from the 2013 Caddy Race at the 16th hole. The Caddy Race was banned after that so the caddies got around the ban–sort of–by giving their bibs to kids, who then raced to the green.
Reblogged this on Relan.
[…] Bowl game itself will not be Zero-Waste. Why not? Sports stadia across the country, as well as the Waste Management Phoenix Open, also taking place this weekend a few zip codes away, have proven able to divert over 90% of food […]
[…] a bit greener. We’ve covered in detail the incredible work Waste-Management has done to make its Phoenix Open tournament Zero-Waste. But that’s tournament golf, in which the greening is focused on the waste and water usage […]
[…] Turning to the PGA Tour*, the Waste Management Phoenix Open (WMPO) stands out as an example of a tournament that dots every possible green “i” and […]
[…] with “Green Golfer” Aubrey McCormick, here for an all-golf News and Notes post, and here for a story on the Zero-Waste Waste Management Phoenix […]
[…] …I get that, of course. But, aside from the incredibly admirable example of the super-green Waste Management Phoenix Open, there’s not all that much about the greening of golf that is communicated to fans at tournaments […]