Play It Green

I’ve been meaning to give them a mention for some time, but I’m slow and easily distracted. I’m talking about 350.org, the new venture in getting people to give a crap about the environment launched by Bill McKibben (he’s the guy who inside the environmental movement is EVERYWHERE–cover blurbing or writing all the books, running or organizing all the latest green ventures. To the point where I had come to assume that McKibben was a household name before asking around and receiving blank stares in response. I really have become seriously and irrevocably immersed in all things green). 

 350.org won my favor immediately by calling E’s office and saying that PlayItGreen had given them a few good leads in terms of athletes they could contact for endorsement. Here’s their deal: they want the number 350 imprinted in as many brains as possible. According to climate guru Dr. James Hansen at NASA, we need to reduce the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million or the world will be irrevocably changed for the worse. (insert screams and doomsday music). This can only be accomplished through real, serious, major overhaul changes–mass support for wind  and solar (and a new smart grid to boot), shutting down coal plants, keeping the rainforests intact.

 Since athletes are akin to gods here on planet Earth, 350.org has thought to enlist their help. Really, the athletes just have to sign a pledge and wear a lime green 350.org wristband and hold up signs where possible (bonus points for signs in cool locations). So far, a lot of winter athletes have lined up in support–not surprising, since they’re the first to notice the effects of global warming. The ultimate goal, of course, is to round up a good 350 of them.

 And the organization is also trying to get 35,000 invites to Obama and McCain (send yours here) to get whoever is elected (Obama. cough.) to go to the U.N. Climate meetings in December and get the country back on track in becoming an environmental world leader.

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At the start of the baseball season, I was given a whole back-stadium tour of Fenway’s green initiatives, from the recycled napkins and extensive recycling bins to the solar panels adorning the roof. Bottled water may be the current bane of eco-snobs, but in a baseball stadium, there’s no getting around those pesky plastic bottles. Once you allow people to start bringing in containers, you get a lot more liqoured up fans. I have great appreciation  for the chanting and enthusiasm of the Red Sox crowd, but there are certainly a few college-agers who could stand to take it down a notch or three. Anyway, Fenway’s greenness.

The Red Sox are the first MLB team to use solar thermal energy. There are 28 solar panels replacing 37% of the gas needed to heat the stadium’s hot water:

The team (and all teams, presumably) go through crazy amounts of paper for each game, says Red Sox PR person Marty Ray–a 35-page pack of major league statistics for each team, a 15-page “game notes” handout for the players, printouts for sports broadcasters. They’ve been printing all but the broadcaster’s notes on double-sided paper now.

 A “Green Team” of college students collects recyclable trash, so fans don’t have to leave their seats to recycle (and anywhere from 25 to 85 college kids get to watch the games for free, not a bad trade on either end).

 Katie Haas, the Red Sox green coordinator, showed off the recycle bins, too:

And the best news for Red Sox fans who are shaking in fear over the possibility that the franchise will chuck their historical, small-seated stadium for a big, shiny new one, Haas said, “The greatest form of saving the environment is preserving this ballpark.”

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