America's Greenest Pastime

Baseball is going green. Major League Baseball and the Natural Resources Defense Council recently announced the creation of a Team Greening Program to support and coordinate environmentally sensitive practices in baseball. Visit www.greensports.org/mlb.

The New York Mets recently teamed up with EPA Region 2 to implement a number of environmental measures in their new home, Citi Field, which will open in 2009. The $800 million ballpark is being built from recycled steel and at least 2 million pounds of recycled coal combustion products that designers claim will save over 800 tons of CO₂ from entering the atmosphere. The stadium also features recycled water, low-flow plumbing features, and a green roof atop the team's administration building.

Also this year, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced a green initiative dubbed "Let's Go Bucs. Let's Go Green," which includes a recycling program at PNC Park for aluminum cans and plastic bottles. Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners, instituted a similar plan, winning a Recycler of the Year award from the Washington State Recycling Association. The Mariners also host a recycling day, when old computers and other electronic goods can be dropped off.

Green ballparks aren't limited to the majors. The Lake Elsinore Storm, a class-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, has introduced a promotional night encouraging health and sustainability called "Go Green Weekend." When hosting the Modesto Nuts April 18-20 at The Diamond in Lake Elsinore, Calif., The Storm invited a variety of businesses and non-profit groups to educate fans about simple changes they can make in everyday life to conserve natural resources. The team's goal is to become the first professional sports franchise with an existing stadium to become LEED certified, and are challenging other sports facilities and teams to become leaders of their communities in setting examples for others. Visit www.stormbaseball.com.

Citi Field under construction. Photo courtesy of the New York Mets.

Lifting Green to New Heights

Toyota Industrial Equipment is as green as they come. A visit to their website at www.toyotaforklift.com immediately shows a photograph of a forklift in a lush tropical jungle setting. The image is in reference to a recent partnership the company has formed with the Arbor Day Foundation. Toyota pledged to make a donation to the foundation for every lift truck sold. Based on 2007 sales data, that would translate into 20,000 additional trees planted to clean the air.

Company policy encourages employees to submit energy saving ideas to management. This program has resulted in 1,700 projects over the last five years, which in turn reduced CO₂ emissions by 120,000 tons. That is equivalent to planting an additional 45,000 trees.

"Toyota is committed to environmental responsibility, and it's a role we take very seriously. Beyond pushing the bounds of product innovation, one of Toyota's goals is to support environmentally appropriate and socially beneficial initiatives contributing to a cleaner environment," said Shankar Basu, president and CEO.

Recharging Electric Vehicle Plans

Most of the major automobile manufacturers have looked at selling electric vehicles to the public as clean transportation. Most of them have also abandoned the idea as they forecast the market for such technology was too small and the technology inadequate to pursue.

Ford Motor Co. owned Think, a Norwegian company that manufactures an all electric car, from 1999 to 2003. They abandoned the project in order to concentrate on other technologies they believed would provide better customer benefit.

Think unveiled a new concept car at the international auto show in Geneva in early March. General Electric was apparently impressed, as they invested a total or $24 million in two companies, A1234Systems and Think. A123Systems will supply Think with lithium-ion batteries that will power the all-electric cars.

The concept car is named the Think Ox and seats five people. There is also Think City, a two-door model with a top speed of 65 mph that can go 120 miles before recharging. The company said 1,400 of its vehicles are already on Norwegian roads, and that international sales of its City model will follow later this year, starting in Europe. The City price is expected to be around $30,000.

Green Office Supplies

Office Depot, Delray Beach, Fla., announced the launch of its new, environmentally preferable line of office supplies called "Office Depot Green." The brand encompasses an assortment of products including core supplies, such as recycled paper, notebooks and file folders, as well as remanufactured ink and toner cartridges, non-toxic cleaners and compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Each product will feature certain environmental benefits, such as 30-percent or more recycled content, remanufactured, Energy Star-qualified and Green Seal-certified. Stores currently carry more than 4,000 products containing recycled content and hundreds more with other environmental benefits. Visit www.officedepot.com/buygreen.

No Manufacturing Wastes

The Subaru automotive manufacturing plant in Lafayette, Ind., produced about 180,000 cars in 2007. The car maker has stated that the operation produced almost no waste in accomplishing this feat.

Copper-laden slag from welding was shipped to Spain for recycling. Styrofoam packaging was returned to Japan to be reused. Plastic odds and ends were gathered to be melted down and remade.

Plant officials claim that 99.8 percent of the facilities refuse is recycled or reused so that it does not go to landfills. That includes the 5 percent that is shipped to a waste-to-energy plant in Indianapolis, which burns the materials to recover their energy value.

Part of the reason for this near-zero waste effort belongs to the workers. Company policy allows the workers to be treated with honor for recycling or reusing even the smallest of waste materials and the 2,842 employees have embraced the idea.

Another important step in the process was enlisting the efforts of suppliers. When a supplier sends a truck loaded with parts, the plant reloads it with packaging materials that can be used again to ship more parts. This reduces waste volumes and saves money for both companies.

EPA Just Called to Say, 'Recycle'

The nation's leading cell phone makers, service providers and retailers have teamed up with the EPA as part of the agency's Plug-In to eCycling program. Partners supporting the cell phone recycling campaign include AT&T Wireless, Best Buy, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Office Depot, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Sprint, Staples and T-Mobile.

Sony Ericsson is sponsoring a cell phone take back event at the Suncom – Family Circle Cup, a Women's Tennis Association event in Charleston, S.C., Apr. 12-20, 2008. Last year's event drew a crowd of more than 93,000 attendees. Visit www.familycirclecup.com.

Work Hard, Fly Green

The EPA's Design for the Environment Program recognized Continental Airlines, Houston, for its corporate stewardship in implementing a non-chromium surface pretreatment for its aircraft. The product, PreKote, is produced by Pantheon Chemical, a recognized partner in the agency's program, and uses chemistry that is safer for the environment and human health. Continental is the first commercial airline to test the hexavalent chromium-free technology, which eliminates toxins used in the pretreatment of aircraft before repainting. Visit www.epa.gov/dfe. PE