sporting green

Sunday is the big day for the beautiful game. All the drama and passion of such an event also makes me wonder about the footprint of sports. It is a large category to cover as there are many kind of sports but for the purpose of the post, I shall limit it to spectator sports in giant stadiums.

In June this year the F1 teams said that they aim to reduce their carbon footprint by 12.4% over the next three years as well as increase fuel efficiency of the cars. There is a discussion of whether motor-racing should even be allowed at this conjuncture but I shall leave that debate to the extreme environmentalists.

The sports industry is mega-bucks. From the designing of sporting equipments, transportation, distribution, marketing, disposal and various other steps in between the LCA of a sporting event is mind-bogglingly complicated. Just thinking about LCA and footprint of a major sports company like Nike or Adidas proves this point. The amount of resources that goes into major events like the Olympics or the World Cup rests this case.

The organization of events of this magnitude puts enormous pressure on both renewable and non-renewable resources, creates noise and light pollution, disturbs local ecosystems and creates new waste-streams. UNEP has categorized environmental impacts of sport and lately there are several spotlights on the topic of greening of the sporting experience.

Several teams in the NFL, Major League and NBA have made attempts to green their teams. The Boston Red Sox have plans to 'green' Fenway Park and Philadephia Eagles have been touted as the greenest team of the NFL. Games with year-round seasons have a higher footprint than games with shorter seasons. Energy used in the stadiums also count - for this reason, basketball is better than hockey.

The FIFA World Cup is being touted as being one of the greenest world cups ever played. However there is evidence to the contrary that suggests that this may not be true. According to the article in CNN, this cup has a footprint 6 times larger than the one played in 2006. Although several initiatives were taken there was a lot more that could've been done to make this cup a greener, more eco-friendly event taking a cue from an enterprising businessman who makes vuvuzuelas from kelp.

The 2012 London Olympics are said to be the most eco-friendly sports event ever planned. The planning committee is looking beyond the games to see how the new facilities can be put to use in the future. The planning committee has won awards recently for commitment towards health, safety and environmental standards. The website has a whole section devoted to the sustainability initiatives in place and worth is having a look at. The Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi later this year is also doing its share to reduce the footprint of the event. The organizers have also tied up with UNEP for guidance and advice.

There are several things that spectators can do to reduce their impact and as with everything else starts from being eco-conscious about your personal impact.

the business of cards

My post today is inspired by the fact that I had to get business cards printed. As I am in the 'green' business obviously there is the need to walk the talk. In my quick, preliminary research for business card printers online I found two companies in the States that offered eco-friendly business cards. One called Greenerprinter offered cards printed on chlorine-free, 50% post-consumer waste recycled paper. They were printed with VOC-free, soy-based inks and cost a bomb (in terms of what you would expect to pay in India). I also found another company called Pixxlz which offered all manner of eco-friendly things including business cards. I also found the EcoPrintingGroup approved by the FSC that provided a lot of paper products. Ultimately, I wasn't terribly comfortable with the idea of getting them shipped all the way from America. I didn't find very many companies in India who offered business cards except for Printbell. An email to their customer service team confirmed that they offer only 310 GSM 60% recycled paper and no information on the inks they used or if the paper was chlorine-free.

Armed with these facts I did a quick, simple cost-benefit analysis and am going with Printbell. I'm still unsure if they offer VOC-free ink; but all logic suggests that air-freighting business cards from America surely is more harmful than VOC-full ink. I'm still waiting for the cards and hopefully the reviews on the site match up to expectations.

Recycled paper products form a number of varieties which is worth educating yourself about. Each ton (2000 lbs) of recycled paper saves 17 trees, 390 gallons of oil, 7000 gallons of water, and 4100 kwh of energy. It also eliminates 60 lbs of air-polluting emissions and saves 8 cubic feet of landfill space. Recycled paper often matches the characteristics of virgin paper and is available in a range of colours that does not compromise on print quality. Chlorine-free paper is unbleached and does not contain chlorine which means that harmful chemicals including dioxins are not released into water supplies.

How do you get started? First of all look for recycled paper. Recycled paper products usually contain a symbol that looks like this - which indicates that it is made from recycled content. This is not to be confused with which merely means that the product can be recycled. Secondly look for the highest percentage of post-consumer content in the paper. This indicates the amount of waste paper collected from consumers and reprocessed. Pre-consumer waste paper is also available and this is manufactured from paper trimmings from paper mill and printer, printed materials that never reach the consumer etc. Thirdly do not fall for labeling that proclaims paper products to be 'environment-friendly', 'natural' etc. The Environmental Defense Fund has an online paper calculator that you can use to figure out paper needs.

There is a gamut of information online about the benefits and importance of recycling. Recycling is one the most easiest, simplest ways of reducing wastes. With a plethora of recycled products available in the market there is no excuse for anyone to use virgin material be it plastic or paper. For a quick check-list of recycling facts, look here. If there is one green-habit you start today; make sure that is recycling and the use of recycled products.