The environmental impact of daily life is something on the mind of more people these days than ever before, including those who play, manage or watch professional sports. Many professional sports leagues are looking for ways to reduce their environmental impacts, such as carbon offsetting and green construction. Teams and individual fans can help reduce the effects of sporting events by conserving resources and reducing carbon footprints wherever possible.

Watching Sports

Whether you travel across the country to see your teams play in person or host a watching party at home, being a fan of professional sports impacts the environment. The carbon produced by travel methods, electricity generation, and even transporting food would need to be negated for a truly carbon-neutral experience. Luckily, more municipalities offer renewable energy sources and incentives for installing solar panels. You can also choose to watch at home or download a sports betting app to reduce the impact of traveling to a game. When you invite friends over to watch the game, you are helping to minimize your own impact, especially if your guests can easily walk to your home or ride public transportation.

Sports teams and leagues are also looking for ways to reduce the environmental impacts of fans traveling to watch games by investing in carbon offsetting projects and partnering with cities to improve public transit and provide transit pass packages to fans. For example, FIFA invests in low-carbon developments and has worked with host cities to provide fans with free or low-cost travel on competition days. Facilities are also reducing how fans contribute to the impacts of sports by encouraging recycling, using biodegradable packaging and installing energy and water-efficient systems.

Team Travel

The Olympics and the FIFA World Cup are two of the most prominent examples of how sports events can mean new facilities to house players and fans worldwide. Teams traveling from city to city to play can significantly impact the environment, not only in terms of carbon produced by flying or driving to the game but also in accommodations. By investing in greener construction techniques and carbon sinking projects, municipalities and the international sports leagues partnered with them can minimize the harmful effects of these events. Teams can also partner with green businesses for more efficient facilities, use buses for travel instead of individual vehicles and contribute to environmental rescue efforts. By approaching ecological impact on many different levels, teams can make small changes that add to significant results.

Stadiums and Arenas

Carbon footprints and construction projects are not the only impacts sports have on the environment, with stadiums and arenas contributing tons of solid waste each year while using energy and water. Teams and facilities are working to reduce this waste through investing in biodegradable food packaging, energy-efficient lighting and water-conscious plumbing. You can even find recycling bins at most arenas to help divert waste from landfills and solar panels to help offset the energy used to power game day. Many facilities work with local charities to ensure that prepared food is not wasted and they can turn used cooking oil into biofuel to avoid sending it to a landfill. Offsetting the carbon footprints of stadiums and arenas can be easier than many think. Still, the efforts to do so can increase awareness of the issue and help reduce waste in the surrounding communities.

Conclusion

Many of the solutions professional sporting leagues and teams are using to limit the environmental impact of games, fans, and stadiums can seem outsized compared to the problems. However, it is crucial to remember that the little steps can add to significant change, especially when new technologies and techniques for minimizing carbon footprints and waste while increasing energy and water efficiency are being developed every day.