Believe it or not, the NFL doesn’t take these statistics lightly, and there are measures in place to offset these environmental costs. In fact, Super Bowl XLVI is slated to be the greenest Super Bowl yet. The NFL Environmental Program, which has been working for 18 years to make the country’s largest sporting event as green as possible, is partnering with numerous organizations in Indianapolis to combat these environmental costs. There are real solutions in place to combat the otherwise devastating environmental scenario.
So what happens to all that garbage?
Recycling
To be considered a success, half of that garbage must make it to the appropriate recycling centers, and one of the starting points is recycling bins. Not only will the bins be plentiful, but also they will be manned by volunteers who will be spending their time pointing out recycling bins to the throngs of fans.
Food Recovery & Composting
The Committee has also partnered with local food recovery nonprofit, Second Helpings, to recover and repurpose the prepared foods from Super Bowl-related events. Second Helpings will pick up prepared foods items that are never set out for public consumption, and then repurpose and prepare these food items into nutritional meals. These meals will be distributed to Greater Indianapolis area shelters, daycares, and other needy organizations. Furthermore, the JW Marriott hotel, host to the 2012 Media Center, is partnering with GreenCycle, the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee, and numerous other organizations to participate in a pilot composting project during the week of the game. Food waste scraps will be immediately transported from the JW Marriot to the GreenCycle facility, where they will be converted into nutritious compost.
Environmental Conservation Efforts
Water Conservation
The 2012 Super Bowl Host Committee established the web-based program 1st & Green Environmental Challenge to help individuals and groups take responsibility for their own carbon footprint, and to encourage them to save water. The participants log in to the site and catalogue their daily conservation activities, which add to tremendous water and carbon emissions savings. This challenge is also a contest, and whoever is able to save the most water and carbon before the kickoff will be recognized on stage in the Super Bowl Village. According to the ticker on their site, this Environmental Challenge has already offset over 1,400,000 pounds of carbon emissions and conserved over 2,500,000 gallons of water.
Urban Forestry Programs
The Host Committee, in conjunction with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, also organized a plan called 2,012 Trees by 2012, which has a simple goal: to plant 2,012 trees on the Near Eastside of Indianapolis before the 2012 Super Bowl. On October 6th, 2011, the organizations met to plant the 2012th tree for this program. Additionally, Green Mountain Energy donated about 1,700 trees to be planted in urban Indianapolis. Planting trees is one of the best pro-active ways to offset carbon emissions with clean air.
