By For the second time in three years, the NHL is the winner of GreenSportsBlog’s Greenest Sports League award. Omar Mitchell, the league’s Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility offered comments.
On Tuesday, GreenSportsBlog named the National Hockey League its Greenest Sports League of 2016. The league, which is celebrating its centennial season, won plaudits for its:
- Commitment to a third consecutive carbon neutral campaign. The NHL is the only professional sports league we’re aware of that completely negates its carbon footprint through the purchases of RECs and carbon offesets. That footprint includes arena and league office operations, and team travel.
- Greener Rinks campaign, in concert with Constellation, the league’s energy partner. The program will measure and evaluate the environmental impact of community ice rinks across North America.
- Willingness to communicate its sustainability story directly to its fans via a variety of media including cable.
These green actions, and more, led President Obama to offer public praise to the NHL at the White House ceremony honoring the Pittsburgh Penguins for winning the 2016 Stanley Cup.
Omar Mitchell, the league’s Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, said in a statement that “The NHL is proud to be recognized by the Green Sports Blog for our efforts in environmental stewardship. At this time every year, hockey players of all ages and skill levels lace up their skates outside, on naturally frozen lakes, ponds and backyard rinks. As a sport, we depend on fresh air, clean water and cold climatic conditions. Our League remains committed to addressing climate change and freshwater issues, and we will continue to pursue best practices, technological innovations and strategic partnerships that reduce our ecological impact and positively change the behavior of our stakeholders.”
[…] For the second time in three years the NHL has won the title of “Greenest Sports League”. [Green Sports Blog] […]