Sustainability

Venues to light up in support of Green Sports Day

Featured image credit: Green Sports Alliance

Over 100 Green Sports Alliance teams and venues will be lighting green today (Thursday) to observe Green Sports Day.

Today is the seventh annual Green Sports Day, which sees the sports community come together to increase awareness and action on environmental and social challenges around the world.

The GSA is partnering with global climate solutions platform South Pole to offset the energy used to light facilities green. Sports organisations are being encouraged to share their #GreenSportsDay message on social media.

Lumen Field (pictured below), home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and Major League Soccer team Seattle Sounders, is among the venues lighting up to support Green Sports Day, along with the Philadelphia Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field (main picture).

Christy Briggs, logistics and sustainability manager for the Seahawks and Lumen Field and a GSA board member, said: “The Seattle Seahawks and Lumen Field are proud to support Green Sports Day and the Green Sports Alliance by coming together to raise awareness for the importance of sustainability.

“We believe our impact on the environment is exponentially greater as we seek to educate and inspire our fans to implement the reduction strategies that we use in-stadium in their own personal homes and workplaces.”

Roger McClendon, executive director of the GSA, said: “Given the incredible honour and responsibility bestowed upon the sports industry by President Barack Obama on October 6 in 2016, we have the opportunity to leverage the power of sports to minimise the impact from emissions in stadiums, arenas, and communities where we live, work and play.

“On this Green Sports Day in 2022, we want to inspire a just transition to a circular economy with renewable energy, water conservation, and waste diversion at the top of mind to ensure a healthy environment for our communities. Join us in Playing for the Next Generation as we share climate awareness with sports fans and encourage sustainable action within the sports industry.”

The GSA is also advancing its partnership with the Sanneh Foundation by gifting 200 reusable fabric bags to children and families in St. Paul, Minnesota. Recycled from fabric signage at the 2022 Green Sports Alliance Summit, the reusable bags have been given another life, rather than heading to a landfill, in partnership with The Vomela Companies.