By San Francisco 49ers

To help parents and teachers navigate distance learning, 49ers EDU presented by Chevron launched their Digital Playbook to provide STEAM lessons and activities to students at the K-8 level. The EDU team is also tackling the digital divide by delivering over 10,500 printed versions of the Digital Playbook to teachers whose students do not have access to computers. 49ers EDU plans to build upon their Playbook Video Review Series ? where staff teach the lessons and provide examples of how STEAM exists in everyday life ? by adding more videos in Spanish. All content is Common Core Standard and Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) aligned making it easy for teachers to integrate the lessons into their curriculum.

Today the Digital Playbook has been launched in a Spanish version, available for access on the team’s website.

Learn more about about the EDU Digital Playbook here

The post 49ers Community | EDU Digital Playbook Now Available in Spanish appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By Kristen Fulmer via Sustainable Brands

A smart, win-win, local partnership will enable the team to provide a combination of sustainable tech and healthier condiment options for a sustainable and COVID-safe solution.

Providing a better fan experience while limiting operational cost, reducing waste, and leveraging local and veteran-owned businesses to do it: The Washington Nationals (the ?Nats?) have hit a ?triple? ? as in a triple-bottom-line partnership that is environmentally, socially and economically more responsible.

The ?It just makes sense? partnership

When the pandemic hit and bars closed, Sestra Systems ? based in nearby Virginia ? expanded from beverage dispensing into an any-liquid serving technology. In the last year, Sestra?s no-touch, smart dispensing technology has been used for coffee, hand sanitizer and now for condiments ? which means an automatic ketchup, BBQ sauce, and hot sauce dispenser without concern for potential COVID transmission.

Pre-pandemic, Nats Park was already serving local beer and wine through Sestra?s taps. Leveraging the opportunity to rethink operations in concessions, Sestra and the Nats explored other no-touch solutions; during that COVID-response process, Sestra contacted no-sugar-added condiment company True Made Foods to partner on a new condiment solution. That was the start of the magic triple-bottom-line partnership.

Image credit: Sestra Systems/Facebook

All of a sudden, the Nationals had a turnkey solution that was not only COVID-safe ? reducing the need for any shared touchpoint between staff or fans ? but also provided a solution to avoid single-use ketchup packets and minimize added sugar intake for fans, just in time for Opening Day. In fact, this Sestra X True Made Foods partnership is already eliminating approximately 16,000 single-use ketchup packets per game, which is reducing approximately 96,000 grams of sugar per game ? and that?s with a 25 percent stadium capacity limit.

In full capacity at Nats Park, the partnership is projected to avoid over 5,000,000 ketchup packets per season, equating to the elimination of the amount of sugar in almost 800,000 sodas.

?When people think of sports teams, they think of traditional corporate partnerships. We?re starting to rethink that at the Nationals,? said Jonathan Stahl, Washington Nationals? VP of Experience & Hospitality. ?Why wouldn?t we leverage two local brands that complement each other to help us respond to COVID while also reducing waste and promoting healthy options??

The Nats are already using compostable or recyclable food containers; so, this simple solution mitigates another huge waste stream ? since single-use condiment packets are not easily recycled and almost always end up in the landfill, even if they?re still full.

Triple-bottom-line solutions

Sustainability is not new to the Nats: ?We?ve moved to compostable and recyclable containers, shifted as much print signage and office material as possible to digital, and recently installed other touchless features that minimize overuse,? Stahl says.

Additionally, Nats Park was the first LEED-certified MLB park; and the operations team continues to integrate new solutions that reduce water consumption, energy use and food waste. Even before COVID, Sestra had already helped to reduce the park?s wine bottle consumption by almost 200 per game. This year, the Nats won the NL East Green Glove Award for their efforts and continue to seek new solutions to lead in sustainability.

The partnership between Sestra, True Made Foods and the Nationals is a prime example of how sports organizations can leverage partnerships to showcase their values and engage with fans through innovative, sustainable actions. The response to COVID begs a rethink of operations, providing an opportunity for the team to reconsider ways to engage with fans, leverage partnerships, or inspire more efficient processes.

All around the world, professional sports venues are planning for the return to full occupancy. Other professional teams can replicate these triple-bottom-line solutions in their clubs ? whether plugging in the Sestra+True Made Foods solution directly; or by tapping into other solutions that not only tackle COVID concerns, but also solve for environmental and social challenges.

This case study should serve as a call to action for other pro teams to think: How can we plug in partners and solutions that make us say, “That just made too much sense not to do it?”

Read the original article here

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By Jonus Cottrell, Asha Dawsey, Lindsay McCoy, Danneisha McDole, Nora Mougharbel

Scrap Sparty stands at the entrance of the MSU Surplus Store & Recycling Center. While Michigan State has a sustainability plan for campus, the athletic department doesn?t yet have its own plan across all sporting facilities.

It?s one of the most common chants from fans at Michigan State University sporting events: Go green.

But Michigan State may be behind in the race to make its athletics department environmentally sustainable. Big Ten rivals Ohio State University and University of Michigan have established zero waste plans for their large sporting events and tailgates ? diverting 90% of waste from landfills by recycling, repurposing and composting ? while the Spartans lack an athletics-wide sustainability action plan.

Michigan State officials say there are a growing number of efforts in the athletic department to be environmentally conscious. But the lack of a full sustainability plan for athletics is a missed opportunity to get Spartan fans to be environmentally conscious, advocates say.

?Research has shown if you have a zero-waste event at a sporting event, that?s an educational opportunity where you?re getting these people that are beyond campus (onto) campus to think about (sustainability),? said Adam Zwickle, an associate professor in MSU?s Department of Community Sustainability whose work includes how to encourage environmentally sustainable behaviors. ?That?s the actual real impact ? to get people to be mindful of their actions.?

The thousands of fans that attend Michigan State University football games at Spartan Stadium can general a lot of trash. MSU?s athletics department doesn?t yet have an environmental sustainability plan across the department to handle issues like recycling, energy use and waste reduction.

?Green? efforts increasing

MSU has pushed a campus waste campaign since 2016, providing recycling bins around campus for paper, cardboard, plastic and metals for students, faculty, staff and visitors to use.

But the athletic department doesn?t have its own plan for sports facilities. MSU Director of Sustainability Amy Butler said the department has been taking steps to become more environmentally sustainable.

?We?re not in a position right now to do a full-scale campaign, but we?ve been doing smaller pieces and starting to grow the knowledge and awareness organically to prepare us for in the future where we could take a much broader stance,? Butler said.

So far, the department has worked with different teams, such as football and women?s basketball, to host games focused on sustainability in efforts to spread its message to fans. Fans who participated in recycling efforts at certain home games received promotional items.

?One of the missed opportunities is the messaging, and being very proactive in implementing sustainable measures, encouraging people to use less,? Butler said. ?So it?s not always what we are recycling at the end but how people are being more responsible as they participate in these events.

?The events become an education process as well, to help communicate to the public that every individual person has a role and responsibility to this earth, and to the venue that they?re enjoying.?

Butler said that leadership in the athletic department is excited to be working with the sustainability department to make events greener on campus.

Engaging fans & tailgaters

According to MSU?s Residence Education and Housing Services, the university?s diversion rate is 50%. This is much higher than the statewide average of 15%.

However, the recycling rate for home football games is lower than both of those numbers, at an average of 12 to 15%, said Dave Smith, Michigan State?s recycling coordinator.

To get that percentage up, Smith said the recycling center places about 80 containers inside Spartan Stadium and another 200 to 300 containers outside the stadium for tailgates. Smith said he wishes the recycling center could provide containers for every tailgate on campus, but that would require more resources than the operation has.

Smith said that the recycling center also provides post-game support by having a crew go around campus with landscape services to collect waste left by tailgaters.

The athletics department has made an effort to incorporate ideas of sustainability over the last few years, Smith said. He said the recycling center now partners with concessions to collect food waste, at an average of 650 pounds per game. Spartan Stadium also has its own cardboard compactor to handle the waste created from sporting events.

Associate Athletic Director Seth Kesler talks about how to keep to handle waste at MSU sporting events.

Associate Athletic Director Seth Kesler is responsible for spearheading sustainability efforts for the football program.

?Just walking around the stadium, I was always frustrated with the piles of garbage and seeing all of the contaminated recycling bins getting thrown in with the waste,? Kesler said.

Kesler said that even with all the containers provided, the signage around the stadium is not clear enough for the fans to pay attention to during games and that the university needs to make it easier for these events to be sustainable with little effort from fans.

Kesler said one of the next changes the athletics department is hoping to implement is making more items from concessions stands biodegradable.

Noleen Chikowore, a community sustainability graduate student at Michigan State, studied the role of informal recyclers, who she refers to as canners, in collecting beverage cans and bottles during MSU?s football games and tailgates. Michigan law puts a 10-cent refundable deposit on those cans and bottles.

Noleen Chikowore, a community sustainability graduate student at Michigan State, discusses her work and suggestions for MSU and students to reduce waste on campus.

In 2016, Chikowore said she attended her first football tailgate where she watched tailgaters leave cans in open spaces rather than putting them in trash or recycling bins.

?Tailgaters tend to leave these cans so that the canners can access the cans in a very easy way rather than the canners going into trash cans and looking for cans,? Chikowore said.

This unspoken collaboration between fans and canners has helped the environment by redirecting cans and bottles from landfills, but also by reducing excess litter from trash being pulled out of waste bins as people search for refundables.

MSU staff also make bags available to canners and to tailgaters on campus to help reduce litter, Chikowore said.

?There?s now less littering and also tailgaters as long as they have access to proper waste disposal facilities, they are disposing of their waste as much as they can,? Chikowore said.

Beyond trash

Experts from the Green Sports Alliance, an organization that works to create sustainable behaviors among sports organizations, say sustainability goes further than the visible litter left behind by fans.

Kristin Hanczor of the Green Sports Alliance discusses ways sporting venues can be more environmentally sustainable.

Kristin Hanczor, senior partnership manager at the alliance, said athletic programs can address everything from food to energy use.

?In one sports game, you?re touching food ? you could source food more locally,? Hanczor said. ?You?re touching waste ? whether you have compostable products versus recyclable products, versus only products that go in the trash. The venue itself ? what kind of energy it?s using, if it has renewable energy on site, if it?s purchasing offsets to support its energy.?

She said sports facilities also can consider water use and transportation, ?setting up venues in a place that it?s easy to have public transit, biking, walking, subway. People need to get to the game, and they want to do that in a more sustainable way.?

?There?s even apparel,? she said. ?What people are wearing on the team, what kind of apparel the college or the sports entity is selling ? where is that produced? How can we make that more sustainable??

Hanczor said if a university is able to engage the athletic department ? and fans and students ? with the message of sustainability, it can make an impact on efforts to be more environmentally responsible.

?Most everyday sports fans would be really surprised by how much is happening in the green sports space,? Hanczor said. ?When you typically talk to a sports fan or you talk to a sustainability person, sports doesn?t come first to mind, and I think I really encourage fans to look up what their favorite team is doing, because chances are you?re going to find something really exciting.?

With that awareness, Hanczor said fans can begin to hold their favorite teams accountable and bring about change.

?The next generation of fans is really going to demand that the brands that they buy from and the sports teams they support align with their values,? she said.

Read the original article here

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The imperative to address climate change has never been greater.  Greenhouse gases have kept the earth?s climate habitable for humans and millions of other species through trapping the heat from the sun. However, those gases — now at the highest levels ever recorded due in large measure to human activities — and the resulting greenhouse effect are threatening to drastically alter where we live and how we live. The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated for us that the life systems on this planet are inextricably linked and that, like the pandemic, climate change presents human rights and health crises that disproportionately affect marginalized communities.

In discussing this issue with student leaders, we agree that the scientific evidence of climate change overwhelmingly demands action now to address the climate emergency. This means redoubling our resolve to unleash the immense human capacity for innovation and applied solutions at sufficient speed and scale.

CU Boulder is well positioned to address this challenge as a decades-long leader in campus sustainability. The University is an original signatory to the American College and University Presidents? Climate Commitment. CU Boulder is one of the top research universities in the world for geoscience and climate science, and is a worldwide hub for climate-related research and innovation. Our faculty, our array of research institutes, including INSTAAR, CIRES and RASEI, and our partnerships with the federal labs are all part of our leadership in this extraordinarily important arena.

Therefore I am issuing a Call to Climate Action to activate our campus community to face this challenge head on. Based on discussions with student leaders, in which I asked them to join me in this Call to Climate Action, together we resolve:

• To recognize and know that climate change is one of the greatest challenges and opportunities ever faced in human history;
• To unleash the hearts and minds of this university?s students, faculty and staff, in all aspects of the climate challenge;
• To further unleash our capacities for hope, innovation and positive impact in all segments of our university and our community by building an intergenerational coalition to help solve this monumental challenge;
• To recognize and address the unequal impacts of climate change, particularly on marginalized communities, as we seek to find and implement equitable solutions that transcend social and economic boundaries;
• To authentically apply the vast capacities within our status as one of America?s leading research universities in both mitigation of and adaptation to climate change;
• To find the paths for investment in the research and entrepreneurship needed to achieve measurable goals.

As Chancellor, I am announcing the formation of a campus-wide University Sustainability Council. Its mission is to foster and assist effective integration of sustainability across all aspects of the University. A call for nominations will be issued for those faculty, staff and students who wish to serve on the Council to begin its work by August 2021.

As part of this Call to Climate Action, I am also committing to the following endeavors:

• Updating the campus Climate Action Plan in 2021-2022 with a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. One of the first steps toward that effort will be to increase energy efficiency in our buildings by 30% by 2035. The Climate Action Plan will tap campus and community expertise, and will have a strong and direct impact on health and on climate justice, in part, through increasing our pace toward carbon neutrality in all of our actions;
• Conducting a detailed gap analysis to move the campus from STARS Gold to STARS Platinum status;
• Continuing to advance campus as a living-learning laboratory for innovations in sustainability;
• Continuing to work with the CU System to advance sustainability and climate solutions.
• Holding all constituencies accountable in the progress we seek through periodic meetings between the Chancellor and student leaders, as well as publishing and publicizing regular reports that track progress toward our greenhouse gas emission reductions.

I want to recognize the role of student leadership in prompting this Call. We will succeed with the support of our students, faculty and staff. I ask our entire campus community to join in this call and to continue pursuing approaches and actions in which we can all contribute to climate solutions. Our work together will strengthen CU Boulder?s decades-long status as a sustainability leader in higher education and  make our university a beacon of hope and innovation for communities around the world.

Philip DiStefano, Chancellor

University of Colorado Boulder

Read the original announcement here

The post From the Chancellor – A Call to Climate Action appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By Ron Mackovich

Anthony Rodriguez, a USC hazardous materials supervisor, loads a bin with electronic waste to be picked up by Human-I-T. (USC Photo/Gus Ruelas)

At one of the entrances to USC?s University Park Campus, forklifts load pallets bearing a half-ton of electronics onto trucks emblazoned with the Human-I-T logo. Most of the gear ? keyboards, monitors and printers ? are but a few years old, time to leave the university but not ready for retirement.

The Human-I-T truck is a familiar sight around campus. For the past five years, USC has partnered with the nonprofit group to safely handle e-waste and refurbish devices, about 70% of which end up with families and individuals who need them. Most of the devices are three years old or newer. The partnership helps drive a program within the USC Leslie and William McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative that provides devices, internet connections and computer instruction to the community.

Most of the equipment is just a few years old and has plenty of life left. (USC Photo/Gus Ruelas)

?Typically, these would be shredded or taken apart to harvest the precious metals and resold,? said Anthony Rodriguez, hazardous materials manager with USC Environmental Health & Safety. ?With Human-I-T, these electronics get a second life and a new purpose.?

The vast majority of USC?s used electronics go to Human-I-T, which charges the university nothing for the service. Devices that may contain highly secure information go through a different process, during which metals and plastics are extracted and put back on the market.

?We advocate repurposing over recycling, said Brandon Smith, Human-I-T?s vice president of business development. ?There is so much opportunity behind a working device that can be given a second life.?

Reusing electronics at USC: better for the environment and the community

Making a new desktop computer and monitor requires considerable amounts of fossil fuel, chemicals and water. A refurbished device consumes fewer resources and keeps shredded metals and contaminants out of the air, soil and groundwater.

The seven-year partnership between USC and Human-I-T has kept 1 million pounds of used electronics out of the e-waste stream, the world?s fastest-growing waste stream and one of the most dangerous. Global e-waste increased 21% between 2014 and 2019, according to the United Nations, and is expected to grow by another 39% during the next decade.

The partnership also supports Human-I-T?s mission to connect lower-income families with broadband. A recent USC study showed significant negative effects on learning for students who don?t have access to high-speed internet and up-to-date devices.

?USC?s donations ultimately feed into one large pipeline that provides digital access for people who need it,? Smith said. ?Some of the desktops, laptops and tablets are repurposed directly to end users while other item types can be resold to promote reuse. Proceeds go towards free or low-cost devices, subsidized internet connections, training programs and technical and hardware support services.?

When USC?s campuses closed due to the pandemic, the volume of donations fell 90% at a time when the need for electronic devices skyrocketed because of distance learning. But now, volume is picking up again as the university adapts to a new world of hybrid work and learning. A thousand printers from Keck Medicine of USC hospitals went to Human-I-T in February and about 70 devices were transferred from the USC Marshall School of Business in September 2020, which kept almost 5,000 pounds of e-waste out of the waste stream. Like other schools, USC Marshall replaces devices about every three to four years, resulting in a substantial flow to Human-I-T.

USC and Human-I-T maintain an enduring partnership

The university and Human-I-T began their relationship in 2013, when Patrick Cates, then-associate director of customer technology services for USC Marshall, formed a partnership with the nonprofit group?s founder, Gabe Middleton.

?He was on campus, saw me moving a trailer full of PCs between buildings and struck up a conversation,? Cates said. ?And we took it from there.?

Soon after, Chief Information Officer Doug Shook extended the partnership?s reach across the university.

William Rivera, a USC hazardous material technician uses a forklift to load a bin of electronic waste onto a Human-I-T truck. (USC Photo/Gus Ruelas)

?It is just such an innovative ?total solution approach? that transforms two very difficult societal problems into self-funding solutions,? Shook said. ?It?s a simply brilliant approach that should be copied and used as broadly as possible across society.?

Scott Smith, an IT consultant and engineer at USC Marshall, has watched Human-I-T grow into a more sophisticated operation over the years.

?When we started with them, they didn?t even have a truck,? he said. ?Their president was going out and helping pick up devices.?

Smith proudly displays a plaque he received from Human-I-T in 2017, which has an inscription: ?By working with Human-I-T, you?ve helped us connect over 5,000 underserved families and individuals to technology and the internet. You?ve given those devices a second life rather than being ground up and recycled.?

?The devices we?re handing over to Human-I-T are relatively new,? he said. ?They?ve still got a lot of life in them.?

If you have unwanted technology you?d like to repurpose, visit the Human-I-T website or contact the organization by email.

Read the original article here

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By Subaru of America, PR Newswire

Subaru of America and the Philadelphia Union are committed to protecting our environment by reducing, reusing, and recycling stadium waste. These new, modern front of house three-stream waste containers will help patrons properly dispose of their trash from events at Subaru Park.Subaru of America and Philadelphia Union to Make Subaru Park the First-Ever Zero Landfill Stadium in MLS

CHESTER, Pa., April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Subaru of America, Inc., in partnership with the Philadelphia Union, today announced that the automaker will bring its established zero landfill knowledge to Subaru Park, home of the Union, making it the first zero landfill stadium in MLS.

While sports stadiums across the country generate massive amounts of trash that go into landfills, through the partnership with Subaru and the Union, Subaru Park aims to become the first MLS Zero Landfill stadium where no trash is sent to a landfill. This initiative ladders up to the core commitment of Subaru and Philadelphia Union to use their partnership to beautify and enhance the greater Philadelphia community through pillars of the Subaru Love Promise.

“At Subaru, we’ve spent years perfecting our Zero Landfill philosophy and helping organizations reduce their environmental footprint. We’ve learned a lot, and we’re thrilled to bring our knowledge to Subaru Park and the greater Philadelphia area,” said Alan Bethke, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Subaru of America, Inc. “With the goal of becoming the first Zero Landfill stadium in MLS, we hope our work with the Philadelphia Union will set the standard for environmental best practices at professional sports stadiums nationwide.”

“The partnership between the Union and Subaru of America was founded on the vision and desire to create a better future for our fans and surrounding community,” said Tim McDermott, Philadelphia Union President. “In the year since our partnership was announced, we’ve made great strides in reaching our ambitions through initiatives that support pet adoption and helping food insecure populations. As a club known for innovation and a community-first mindset, our mission to achieve Zero Landfill status is a milestone in our relationship with Subaru and the history of our organization.”

To put this new process into perspective, Subaru Park recycled more than 40,000 pounds or 20.41 tons of cardboard alone in 2019. With the new zero landfill process in place, Subaru Park will divert an estimated 357,480 pounds of waste from local landfills in an average year, an amount equivalent to:

• A Philadelphia cheesesteak that’s 19 miles high and 50 miles wide
• The weight of 357,480 soccer balls
• The height of 20 Mt. Everests-worth of stacked aluminum cans

To achieve this goal, Subaru Park will deploy 111 MAX-R Containers throughout various locations in Subaru Park. These new, modern front-of-house three-stream waste containers will help patrons properly dispose of their waste from any event at Subaru Park. To ensure that the containers are being used properly, Subaru will provide ambassadors to help educate fans with waste disposal and share Subaru Zero Landfill project best practices. Once the waste is collected in the MAX-R containers, the Union will be assisted in the waste removal process with the help of Spectra, Recycle Track Systems, Inc. (RTS), and Covanta Environmental Solutions.

Spectra has been instrumental in helping set up Subaru Park to be successful, putting new containers in place, educating their staff, and ensuring that all the material that can be recycled is separated and sent to be processed. The small amount of waste that can’t be recycled, such as restroom paper towels, utensils, and other items, will be hauled by Recycle Track systems and sent to Covanta Environmental Solutions where the material will be used to generate steam that will turn the turbines to produce electricity for the Philadelphia area.

Subaru and the Union are committed to supporting the greater Philadelphia community with charitable programs, including the Subaru Park Zero Landfill initiative announced today, which is an extension of the Subaru Love Promise. The pairing’s other endeavors include the Dogs of Ben, an initiative aimed at helping shelter dogs find homes in the Philadelphia area, and the Garden for Good, which is intended to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for donation to food banks in Chester during harvesting seasons.

To learn more about Subaru Park Zero Landfill Initiative, please visit: www.philadelphiaunion.com/Subaru.

Read the original press release here

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By GSS Editor

Athletic Organizations Implement Safe, Effective Cleaning, Testing protocols

St. Paul, MN: Green Science Solutions (GSS) and Green Sports Alliance (GSA) are teaming up to provide sustainable cleaning and testing solutions in sports arenas and other community spaces, so athletes, coaches and fans alike can safely enjoy sporting events.

?We are grateful to have partners like GSS as part of the Green Sports Alliance to help advance environmentally conscious cleaning solutions that are both effective and safe in order to protect the health of our planet in addition to our venue staff, athletes, and fans,? said Roger McClendon, Executive Director, Green Sports Alliance.

Sustainable ?Green? Technologies

Green Science Solutions offers sustainable cleaning solutions that sanitize and disinfect surfaces as well as laundry systems and shoe sanitizing stations, all without harmful chemicals, but equally effective.

Along with surface cleaning, GSS provides air purification and monitoring systems that provide real-time data about air quality to ensure indoor spaces have proper ventilation and air flow.

?GSS is excited to partner again with Green Sports Alliance and their members to help provide more sustainable and verifiable technologies, to get fans back in the stands,? said Michelle Hilger, Vice President of Sales Green Science Solutions.

ATP Testing Verifies Cleanliness

To ensure surfaces are clean, especially high-tough areas, GSS offers 3M?s ATP testing to measure with the cleanliness of surfaces to help inform proficient cleaning protocols throughout indoor spaces.

Partnership Benefits

• Provide effective, yet sustainable cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting solutions to athletic organizations nationwide
• Improve cleaning processes and testing protocols so communities can safely play
• Reduce harsh chemical products and waste from traditional cleaning processes

About Green Science Solutions:

Green Science Solutions? mission is to integrate science and the latest in sustainable technologies to enable customers to maintain and monitor healthy, safe, and chemical-free indoor environments. Solutions include sustainable cleaning and disinfecting products, air purification, cleanliness testing and indoor air quality monitoring for commercial and retail customers.

About Green Sports Alliance:

The Green Sports Alliance leverages the cultural and market influence of sports to promote healthy, sustainable communities where people live and play. The GSA inspires professional sports leagues, sports governing bodies, colleges, teams, venues, their partners and millions of fans to embrace renewable energy, healthy food, recycling, water efficiency, safer chemicals and other environmentally preferable practices. GSA members now number over 300. Visit greensportsalliance.org for more information.

Read the original press release here

The post Green Science Solutions and Green Sports Alliance Partner to Offer Sustainable Cleaning Processes appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

To celebrate Earth Day, the Braves added a piece of Atlanta baseball history to Truist Park with the planting of a seedling from a 113+ year-old Magnolia tree that grew in the outfield of Ponce de Leon/Spiller Park. Home to Minor League?s Atlanta Crackers and Negro American League?s Atlanta Black Crackers, when the ballpark opened in 1907, the magnolia was approved to remain inside the ballfield?s footprint. When balls landed in the tree, they were considered ?in play,? and baseball greats including Babe Ruth and Eddie Mathews hit ?home runs? into the tree. When Earl Mann took over the team in 1947, he did not want the tree in the outfield; however, instead of uprooting it, he moved the outfield wall in 50?. The original Grandiflora Magnolia tree is approximately 80? tall and still stands at the Ponce de Leon/Spiller Park location at 650 Ponce de Leon Avenue.

The seedling, which has been nicknamed Maggie, was planted this morning by HighGrove Partners, the official landscaping company for the Atlanta Braves. The tree now stands on the corner of Circle 75 Pkwy and Windy Ridge Pkwy SE, where a marker will be installed in partnership with the Atlanta Botanical Garden to share information on the tree and the history of its origins. As Maggie grows, she will be a beautiful addition to Truist Park and a great way to preserve and educate fans on Atlanta baseball history.

Hear more about the project here

The post Celebrating Earth Day: Metro Atlanta Organizations Plant Trees To Support The Environment appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By Emily Caron, Sportico

Courtesy Climate Change Arena

(This story has been corrected to show the name Climate Pledge Arena instead of Climate Change Arena throughout, while the amount of annual waste cited in the penultimate paragraph has been corrected to 14 billion tons from 14 billion pounds.)

Designs were approved, permits secured, and construction was well underway at what?s now known as Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle before, well, everything changed. Midway through construction, financer Amazon decided it wanted to open the world?s first zero-carbon arena, a next-level sustainable facility built in complete accordance with both the Paris Climate Agreement and the stringent International Living Future Institute certification standards.

The post Sustainable Projects Generating Real Returns for Teams and Venues appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By ASU News

Sustainable communities, eradicating poverty, clean water among university’s highest scores by Times Higher Education

Arizona State University remains a national leader in addressing sustainability when it comes to research, outreach and stewardship, according to an annual international publication of university rankings announced April 21.

That ranking, published by Times Higher Education magazine, has been driven by the university’s efforts on such issues as poverty and hunger, gender equality, clean water and air, climate change and providing quality education.

For the second year in a row, the university retained the top national spot when it comes to impacts made addressing 17 specific goals aimed at achieving a better world for 2030, known as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015, these goals provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

Video by Deanna Dent/ASU Media Relations

For 2021, ASU’s score of 95.8 out of 100 points put it at No. 1 in the U.S., coming in ahead of Purdue University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Penn State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In the global rankings, ASU is tied for ninth in the world out of 1,115 institutions from more than a dozen different countries, ahead of King’s College London, the University of British Columbia and Western Sydney University. The global ranking included nearly 350 more institutions this year, compared with 2020. The next highest U.S. institution on the global list is Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis at No. 28.

ASU?s SDG & Beyond Task Force, co-chaired by the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and the Thunderbird School of Global Management, seeks to improve these goals each year on behalf of the university. The two co-chairs reflected on their global leadership journey to ASU.

?As former New Zealand ambassador to the United Nations in 2015, we negotiated the Sustainable Development Goals, and I could not be more impressed with ASU?s contributions and ability to rapidly innovate, replicate and scale meaningful solutions,? said Amanda Ellis, director of global partnerships in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory.

Sanjeev Khagram, the CEO, director general and dean of Thunderbird, said he “had the privilege of leading the establishment of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, the largest multistakeholder initiative launched to achieve the global goals. It is that level of ambition with what we at Thunderbird joined with the Global Futures Lab to make ASU the No. 1 university for SDGs. We must make this the decade of delivery worldwide.?

Among the 17 goals, ASU ranked highest in sustainable cities and communities (93.4, second overall globally); responsible consumption and production (89.7, fourth); eradicating poverty (87.1, third); clean sanitation and water (82.3, fifth); climate action (81.8, fourth); and life below water (89.5, seventh).

Other categories are partnership for the goals (92.3); reduced inequalities (81.4); peace, justice and strong institutions (80.5); life on land (79.2); quality education (75.6); zero hunger (73.7); industry, innovation and infrastructure (73.2); decent work and economic growth (71.8); affordable and clean energy (71.1); good health and well-being (71.0); and gender equality (69.3).

Rankings and accolades are all well and good, but in tackling these challenges, ASU is demonstrating that it is changing the world through practical global influence for multiplier impact.

Here are a half-dozen of the many ways in which ASU is helping people and the planet prosper:

• Modular gender education training for parliamentarians and global changemakers: These videos aim to eliminate discriminatory laws against women around the world and are now used by the 179 member countries of the Interparliamentary Union and the United Nations partner agencies.
• The Global SDG 5 Notification Tool, designed by ASU’s Erin Carr-Jordan and implemented by The Luminosity Lab, which provides users insight into country-level progress on legal gender equality with the ability to compare 190 countries at a granular level. With data on local laws provided by the World Bank, parliamentarians and others, this tool is used by the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review to hold countries accountable to their commitments.
• The Global Carbon Removal Partnership is a group made up of policymakers, members of the private sector and civic society seeking to influence policy and market environments to support the rapid scale-up of carbon removal actions. ASU?s Klaus Lackner, director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, focuses exactly on that. The center has developed ?mechanical trees,? an innovative technology that pulls down carbon emissions from the atmosphere and is approximately 1,000 times more efficient than actual trees. ASU is also home to the international public-private alliance, New Carbon Economy Consortium, focused on harnessing innovation to drive a carbon-neutral to carbon-negative world.
• The Connective is a consortium that is building a first-of-its-kind ?smart region? for the greater Phoenix area with Thunderbird?s Phoenix Global Rising Initiative ? a global multi-stakeholder partnership advancing Phoenix?s global capacity. With the support of Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, ASU is helping deploy equitable and scalable technology solutions that support the Valley?s goals of sustainability and improving quality of life.
• The Decision Center for a Desert City is focused on advancing research, education and partnerships for urban water transitions through the power of data. Complementing its work is the Kyl Center for Water Policy, which promotes research, analysis, collaboration and dialogue to build consensus on sound water stewardship for Arizona and the West.
• The Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems provides research and education options to address the integrity of the agriculture systems and the well-being of farmers, producers and providers, and to help drive policy-relevant knowledge to ensure food safety.

In this next decade of action and beyond, ASU will continue to be a global leader and transform society through use-inspired research, said Peter Schlosser, vice president and vice provost of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory.

?The Sustainable Development Goals are designed to build a future with improved well-being for all humankind on a healthy planet,? Schlosser said. ?Our purpose at ASU is not only to support these goals by aligning our programs and service to local and global communities, but to build upon them beyond 2030 so that we, as a global community, are shaping and creating bold ideas for a planet-positive future through opportunity, not sacrifice.?

Read the original article here

The post ASU retains top US spot for efforts toward UN sustainability goals appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

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