Green business practices are reaching over to sports. In conjunction with the NRDC (National Resources Defense Council), the MLB (Major League Baseball), NBA (National Basketball Association), NHL (National Hockey League), USTA (United States Tennis Association), NFL (National Football League), MLS (Major League Soccer) and NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) are putting practices and policies in place that reduce their environmental impact. The NRDC founded the Green Sports Alliance to provide an inter-legue collaboration that includes several professional sports leagues and stadium complexes.
These organizations work in close partnership with the NRDC, the U.S. EPA, the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and other partners to identify and adopt innovative environmental initiatives and share information about better practices and opportunities to measure and reduce their impact on the environment.
The pros and collegiates aren’t the only ones paying attention to the footprint they are leaving on the environment. Sports for pre-K-12 are taking a “green” attitude.
Green practices are also making their own “footprint” in children’s activities. One example of an eco-friendly dance studio is Flash Point Dance Studio in Fairfield, NY. Flash Point not only put policies in place for the way their building operates, but they recycled building materials from their old location.
Another is Little Otter Swim School’s second facility to soon open in Charlotte, NC. Little Otter will break ground in the Fall on a new building that puts several green systems (including solar panels) in place to help them operate in a more econ-friendly way.
There are also products created for use by children’s organizations – such as eco-friendly mats for gymnastics facilities and eco-friendly floor systems for dance studios.
We provided some resources for deciding how to decide the green initiatives that are right for your business in a blog earlier this month called Going Green. You can get ideas from other children’s activity centers that are already offering green alternatives or have established eco-friendly practices by doing a Google search using “eco-friendly [your type of facility]”.
Most importantly, consider what you can do best to take your own “green” stance – and Go Green!
