Earth Day 2017: Encouraging small changes
The theme of Earth Day 2017 is “environmental and climate literacy”. On 22 April, the Earth Day Network will promote its goal of creating a community of global citizens informed about climate change and committed to living “green”.
In the sport sector, often the conversation about environmental sustainability revolves around mega-events. For example, many professional sport clubs aim to use recyclable materials in their stadiums, consume less energy during events and reduce waste as much as possible.
To what degree are these global sport entities responsible and what role do they have in influencing sport fans?
In addition to these commitments to sustainable practices, many sport leagues and organisations are taking on the role of educators. Keeping with the theme of Earth Day 2017, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is taking steps to encourage environmental literacy with its new campaign “Time Out Tips”.
In partnership with the National Environmental Education Foundation, the campaign will launch on 22 April, and will feature NBA/WNBA players sharing their energy-saving tips with spectators. Fans will also receive suggestions on reducing waste via text message, and are encouraged to share how they implement them on social media. The focus will be on minor, daily changes that the organisation hopes will lead to a much larger impact on the environment.
How can we implement small changes to make our involvement in sport more sustainable?
This Earth Day, think about what changes you can make when practicing sport yourself. Some examples might be:
- Reducing your carbon footprint by carpooling or riding a bike to training
- Reusing plastic water bottles as much as possible before recycling, or if possible switching to a reusable bottle
- Recycling sports equipment and gear
- Organising a sport event in your local community dedicated to cleaning up and recycling waste, like the Run Eco Team
Be sure to share your tips for eco-friendly sport practice with the sportanddev.org community, and have a great Earth Day!
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