As the world becomes increasingly aware of the environmental impact of various industries, the sports sector, including the NFL, is taking significant steps to reduce its carbon footprint and promote sustainability. This article explores the efforts made by the NFL and its teams to address the environmental challenges posed by their games and operations.
Designing Sustainable Stadiums
Mohit Mehta, Global Head of Sustainability at Populous, emphasizes the importance of incorporating sustainability principles into the design process from the start of a project. Early-stage planning must include the selection of a sustainable site, designing for energy efficiency, specifying low embodied carbon materials, conserving water, and engaging with the community. Mehta also highlights the importance of upcycling, recycling, and repurposing materials to reduce construction waste. The Commbank Stadium in Parramatta, Australia, for example, received LEED v4 Gold certification and diverted more than 90% of materials from the old stadium from landfill by recycling them to construct the new stadium.
Promoting Public Transportation
The Philadelphia Eagles have partnered with SEPTA to promote the environmental benefits of public transportation. Eagles Go Green-wrapped SEPTA buses provide educational messaging around sustainability, emphasizing the importance of choosing public transportation over single-occupancy vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. SEPTA’s approach to sustainability is “triple-bottom-line,” accounting for the natural environment, healthy communities and workforce, and economic vitality.
Addressing Climate Change Through Sports
Climate change has already caused problems in holding sporting events, and the global sports sector contributes the same level of emissions as a medium-sized country. The construction and usage of sporting venues, transportation to/from competitions, and the
production of sporting equipment all contribute to the carbon footprint of sports. However, sports can help in the battle against climate change by transitioning to sustainable means of operation and raising awareness about the climate crisis.
Waste Reduction and Recycling at Stadiums
NFL games generate about 35 tons of waste, which can increase by up to 50% for the Super Bowl. Stadium operators are making sustainability commitments to reduce their carbon footprints, and the Green Sports Alliance helps the sports world embrace sustainability and create a meaningful community impact. Recycling is one of the most widely employed stadium waste reduction strategies, with some stadiums winning EPA awards for their waste reduction and recycling practices. PureCycle launched its PureCycle Zero plastics recycling program aimed at large venues like stadiums, offering best practices and tips for collecting polypropylene containers generated by concessions, which PureCycle turns into an “ultra-pure” resin for use in new products.
