Stadiums Get Sustainable

According to Ken Belson, American sports represent the broadest cross-section of consumer culture and America's wasteful ways around, with their giant scoreboards and retractable roofs that are surrounded by parking lots filled with thousands of cars.

In recent years though, the sports industry has become more environmental friendly. Many organizations are adopting solar panels as well as recycling programs realizing that going green "can save thousands and even millions of dollars a year."

In 2008, the Boston Red Sox installed 28 solar panels on the roof above the first-base line, which according to Belson, led off the rush of projects.

To keep the air in the arena dry and cool enough to meet the N.H.L.'s strict guidelines for maintaining the ice, Belson mentions that the New Jersey Devils spent extra money on a state-of-the-art dehumidifying system when building the new Prudential Center in Newark.

Belson also states that "teams like Seattle and St. Louis have ambitious energy-saving programs at their parks, and the United States Open tennis tournament composts a majority of its waste. Even Nascar, a sport built on gas-guzzling racecars, has introduced a program that includes the recycling of used tires, oily rags and more."