It's easy to forget the basics of green living when you go to a baseball game. We've all done it: gotten caught up in the excitement (and the peanuts and crackerjack) and used more than our share of disposable napkins, bottles, and cups.
But the Red Sox are making it easier to be an eco-conscious fan. Last year, the team announced a five-year plan to make Fenway green (beyond the Green Monster, that is). The National Resources Defense Council will help the Sox make Fenway as environmentally friendly as can be by 2012, in time for the park's 100th birthday.
Initiatives starting this year include a comprehensive recycling program and the fans can help, please! - by actually using the recycling bins, cutting down on the disposables we use, and choosing snacks with little or no packaging. The organization is using LED bulbs to make the park's lighted signs more energy efficient and printing schedules and guides on recycled paper. The grass on the infield is greener, too, thanks to a new water conservation program, a significant decrease in the use of fertilizer, and lawnmowers that run on biodiesel. In the refreshments department, the Sox are introducing food and beverage containers made from recycled materials, recycling restaurant grease (what - there's greasy food at Fenway?), and utilizing more locally grown ingredients.
The Red Sox are also the first professional sports team to go solar, installing solar panels on the roof behind home plate ( saving an estimated 18 tons of CO2 emissions annually) and solar-powered waste compacters. The Yankees haven't done anything like this - yet another reason for Red Sox fans to gloat. [Christie Matheson]
Christie Matheson is the author "Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style."
