By In a special section on Energy, today’s New York Times features its first significant column about the Greening of Sports.
Written by Ken Belson, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist (and, sad to say, a Mets fan), “Water Waste: Going, Going…” details the many measures sports venue operators and teams are taking to reduce the amount of water used at their facilities.
Not surprisingly, given the massive drought that recently entered its fourth year, west coast stadia and arenas are the focus of the article. Levi’s Stadium, the new, state-of-the-art home of the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, is featured prominently and is cited for using 85 percent recycled water.
GreenSportsBlog is glad to see the Times recognize that a greening sports world would be of interest to its readers. Let’s hope we see more of the Gray Lady at the Intersection of Green and Sports.
Interesting article Lew! Thanks for sharing. I feel like the public is overlooking just how essential water is – especially to sports. Interesting approach in water conservation by The Staples Center – you think other large venues will catch on? Seems an incentive(s) from some higher power could be hugely beneficial.
Thanks Sustainable Investor! There is no doubt California is the hub for water conservation in the sports world due to the severe drought. Staples Center in LA and the new Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara are the most high profile venues to enact water saving measures at scale–and that is certainly trickling down (pun intended) to smaller venues throughout the state. I’m not aware of specific water saving incentives in California for the sports industry but, across the entire business spectrum, the Brown Administration in Sacramento has proposed many water saving initiatives–and some have already been adopted by the state legislature.