Collegiate Game Changers How Campus Sport Is Going Green
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AUGUST 2013 NRDC REPORT R:13-08-A COLLEGIATE GAME CHANGERS HOW CAMPUS SPORT IS GOING GREEN FOREWORD Robin Harris, Executive Director, The Ivy League PREFACE Allen Hershkowitz, Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council AFTERWORD Missy Franklin, Four-Time Olympic Gold Medalist and Student-Athlete AUTHOR SPORTS PROJECT DIRECTOR PROJECT CONTRIBUTOR Alice Henly Allen Hershkowitz, Ph.D. Darby Hoover Natural Resources Co-Founder Natural Resources Defense Council Green Sports Alliance Defense Council Natural Resources Defense Council Acknowledgments Many people contributed to the success of this work. The Natural Resources Defense Council Sports Project would like to acknowledge the Wendy and John Neu Family Foundation, The Merck Family Fund, Jenny Russell, Fred Stanback, Beyond Sport, Frances Beinecke, John Adams, Robert Redford, Bob Fisher, Wendy Neu, Josie Merck, Alan Horn, Peter Morton, Laurie David, George Woodwell, Jonathan F.P. Rose, Dan Tishman, Peter Lehner, Robert Ferguson, and Jack Murray. The author would like to thank Allen Hershkowitz, Darby Hoover, Alexandra Kennaugh, Jenny Powers, Martin Tull, Sara Hoversten, David Muller, Mark Izeman, Parker Mitchell, and Sue Rossi for their support for this publication. The author would also like to recognize the Green Sports Alliance, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, and NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation. NRDC would like to acknowledge report contributions from Missy Franklin, Robin Harris, Bob Perciasepe, Stephanie Owens, Suganthi Simon, Carroll Carly, Elisa Halpin, Meghan Fay Zahniser, Margo Wagner, Judy Walton, Allison Potteiger, Pam Watts, Simon Bravo, Kristal Fehring, Celene McGowan, Scottie Rodgers, Joe Abraham, Brett Preston, David Bradshaw, Shoshana Mayden, Dave Newport, Edward von Bleichert, Bronson Hilliard, Casey Cass, Kristin Epley, Rick Villarreal, Lauren Helixon, Don Patko, Corey Hawkey, Lindsay Komlanc, Bob Beals, Ethan Nelson, Scott Johnson, Craig Pintens, Barbara Chesler, Tom Beckett, Diana Madson, Mary Beth Barham, Victoria Balta, Erin Carter, Karen Baebler, Laura Lee Dootson, Shane Stennes, Derek Hillestad, Jeff Seifriz, Christopher Werle, Maggie Emmons, Nick Brown, Wendy Craft, Karl Edelhoff, Stephanie Sims, Jacob Cravey, Martin Salamone, Tom Venturino, Lydia Vandenbergh, Judd Michael, Mark Bodenschatz, Natalie England, Jim Walker, Malte Weiland, Matthew O’Carroll, Stephanie Boyd, Julia Munemo, Lindsey Kalkbrenner, Pam Su, Erin Carroll, Jeff Elbracht, Joanne Greene, Greg Rothberg, Bob Scalise, Jason Waldron, Halli Bovia, Mick Deluca, Nurit Katz, Tim Trefzer, Jennifer Battle, Chris DeVolder, and John Silkey. The Green Sports Alliance would like to thank their members, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the many other partner organizations that provide technical assistance and funding to support the mission of the Alliance and enable their success. For more information about greening sports, visit www.nrdc.org/sports or www.greensports.org. Join the conversation at #GreenSports. Download this report at www.nrdc.org/sports/collegiate-game-changers. Download NRDC’s first Game Changer report at www.nrdc.org/game-changer. About NRDC NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is a national nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, and Beijing. Since 2004, NRDC has been a world leader in professional and collegiate sports greening. Learn more about the NRDC Sports Project at www.nrdc.org/sports and @NRDCGreenSports. About Green Sports Alliance The Green Sports Alliance is a non-profit organization with a mission to help sports teams, venues, and leagues enhance their environmental performance. Alliance members represent over 170 professional and collegiate sports teams and venues from 16 different sports leagues. Please visit www.greensportsalliance.org for additional information. About the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) is an association of colleges and universities in the United States whose mission is to promote sustainability in higher education. Please visit www.aashe.org for additional information. NRDC Director of Communications: Edwin Chen NRDC Deputy Director of Communications: Lisa Goffredi NRDC Policy Publications Director: Alex Kennaugh Lead Editor: Elise Marton Design and Production: www.suerossi.com Cover photo courtesy of University of Colorado Boulder © Natural Resources Defense Council 2013 This report is dedicated to John Neu, the founding benefactor of NRDC’s Sports Project, who used his wealth imaginatively, but not for himself. He sought to change the world and succeeded. Photo courtesy of University of North Texas. FOREWORD The environmental challenges we face today—from climate change to biodiversity loss—are affecting our economy and society. Colleges and universities, which are increasingly adopting ecologically better practices, can also play a critical role in educating and inspiring students to become leaders in the movement to address these challenges. More and more colleges are offering coursework in environmental areas. Sustainability is becoming a thread that runs through, and holds together, all aspects of campus life—including college sports. Moreover, at the most fundamental level, we need a stable climate, clean air, and fresh water to enjoy the sports we love. When college athletics or recreation facilities become “greener,” I am pleased that we are not alone in these endeavors. This report the impact reaches beyond the boundaries of that department and illustrates a growing green movement in college sports—one that those buildings. College sports bring together students, faculty, builds on the sustainability efforts already underway on so many staff, alumni, and fans from disparate parts of the community. By college campuses and that is inspired by the many successful integrating sustainability into college sports, we are integrating major leagues sports greening efforts nationwide. Regardless sustainability into that shared culture, embedding it in the identity of size, division, or conference, college athletics and recreation of the campus. Greening college sports also makes good business departments across the country are launching successful sense—environmental considerations are increasingly a part of the sustainability efforts, and finding new ways to engage and empower 21st century marketplace. College sports departments that are students to change the world by starting on campus and leading by adopting greener practices are helping to show that sustainability example. Athletics and recreation departments are also recognizing can work hand in hand with good business practices— including the many benefits of greening, including lower operational costs, by reducing sports facility operations costs, providing a healthier brand enhancement and attracting new sponsors. workout environment (e.g., air quality in indoor tracks, water quality in pools), appealing to new sponsors and donors, and enhancing This is just the beginning. There is tremendous potential for inter-departmental collaboration. colleges and universities to learn from each other, share better practices for sports greening, and motivate their communities to College sports greening also empowers students by providing them get involved in sustainable activities. Perhaps most importantly, by with practical ways to combine an academic focus on ecological engaging students in putting environmental solutions into action, issues with hands-on work experience in sustainability. As the collegiate sports also has the potential to empower and inspire our many examples of campus sports greening in this report illustrate, future leaders to build a more sustainable society. The Ivy League creating and implementing environmental strategies helps build is excited to be part of this growing movement and we value the awareness, values, and skills students need to become leaders our partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council to in creating a more secure and sustainable future. Students are advance our greening accomplishments. increasingly interested in not only sustainability coursework, but also putting those ideals into practice across campus. College sports greening programs can help attract these students, while promoting the healthy practices and high-performance facilities that improve the collegiate athletics experience. I am proud that the Ivy League has taken the lead in greening Robin Harris college athletics at the conference level. Through the Ivy Green Executive Director Initiative, we have committed to reduce the environmental footprint The Ivy League of all of our championship events, and to provide resources to all Ivy League athletics departments for their own efforts to save energy and water, reduce pollution, and minimize waste, in order to become more sustainable. PAGE 5 | Collegiate Game Changers: How Campus Sport is Going Green Preface You are about to read the second publication in NRDC’s Game Changer series, which documents never-before-assembled case studies of the North American sports industry’s most successful