Today, global athletes are using their voices to urge change and promote the cause of sustainability and environmental conservation. Since millions of people around the globe enjoy sports, these athletes are in a privileged position to exert pressure on their leagues and fans to promote environmentally friendly measures in sports.
1. The Efforts of Athletes to Go Green
Some examples of people who support this movement are Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, basketball player LeBron James, and Muean Rapinoe. Lewis Hamilton, a Formula 1 racer of seven times a champion, has changed his diet and the use of electric cars to mitigate the impacts of climate change. He also holds nothing back when giving his opinion on Formula 1 and the environment and has called for the sport to adopt more sustainable measures.
Likewise, LeBron James has stood for or endorsed several environment-related causes. His I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, is a perfect example of a sustainable building with systems that cut short water and power use. Such causes are not limited to the court since LeBron has taken his stand and joined the fight to ensure underprivileged communities are informed of the impacts of climate change.
Another influential women’s soccer player and agenda activist, Megan Rapinoe, is an environmental activist. She has partnered with advocacy groups that push for clean energy and less use of plastics in society. By doing so, she encourages change at the societal level and a more environmentally sustainable approach to her chosen sport.
They do that by applying pressure on the leagues and teams they play for to change the course and apply sustainable methods. These are some of the many ways sportswomen and athletes contribute to transforming the sports industry into embracing green energy and sustainable infrastructure.
2. Stadiums and Venues Taking a Stand
Athletes alone are not going green, but sports stadiums and other sports facilities are taking an environmentally friendly approach to adopting sustainable technology. One such example is the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which is the Atlanta Falcons football team and Atlanta United soccer team. This stadium is particularly famous for its environmentally friendly architecture, including installing solar panels, rainwater systems, and energy-saving lights. According to the LEED rating system, Mercedes-Benz Stadium is also an accredited Platinum building, which places it among the most environmentally friendly sports structures.
The San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara is another pioneer of the sustainable stadium movement. It has a living roof meant for insulation, thus minimizing heating and cooling costs. The stadium also promotes water use, and its toilets and lawns are to be served with recycled water to help it get its LEED Gold status. These venues established a new range of benchmarks in the sustainability of the sports and showed how further improvements can be made in green sports facilities.
Other large stadium examples include the Oracle Arena in Oakland, which is 100% run on renewable energy, or the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, which is also 100% solar powered and shows that these large sports venues can go green without affecting fan experience and event quality.
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3. Role of Fans and Sports Events
Besides athletes and stadiums, the fans also greatly contribute to the support for facilitated sustenance. We can see that many sports organizations are now promoting environmentally friendly fan behavior, including using refillable water bottles during games or properly disposing of recyclable materials during games at stadiums. There are even some venues that ‘bribe’ their fans with, for instance, tickets that are cheaper than the normal rate or merchandise should they leave their cars at home and instead take public transport to the game, thus cutting down the greenhouse gas emissions that are characteristic of most large sports events.
Large-scale sports events like the Olympics and FIFA World Cup are shifting towards sustainability. Event organizers endeavor to make these events carbon-free through activities such as offsetting carbon emissions that may be occasioned by travel and using renewable energy in event venues. People are requested to participate actively in these schemes by recycling, minimizing their usage of non-reusable items, and participating in carbon offset programs.
Conscientious Conclusion
Sustainability in sports is becoming a trend, and people involved in sports act as the surge by incorporating the use of sustainable practices. From Lewis Hamilton’s promotion of electric cars in his interviews to the environmentally friendly architecture of both Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Levi’s Stadium, sports demonstrate that it is possible to make sustainable decisions without sacrificing entertainment. I will be a stakeholder, and in supporting these efforts, we shall not only bring change for the environment but also make the whole system of sports more sustainable. If you are going to watch a match physically or at home, think about how you can be part of the solution to help save the planet.
