Green Athletics is Grabbing Gold - Sustainability in Global Sports

Sustainability in US Professional Sports

Professional sports take up a large role in American culture and society. It seems like every weekend people are occupied when their favorite major league is in season and almost everyone has a place to go for the Superbowl in February. We can all agree that professional sports in the United States embody passion and community. From a sustainability perspective major sporting events generate large amounts of waste and greenhouse gasses. For instance, the NFL, MLS, and NBA have the highest carbon footprint per game average of any major US sports leagues. The NFL releases 20.8 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, the MLS 18.2 metric tonnes, and the NBA 13.7 metric tonnes. Most of these emissions are coming from traveling between stadiums and the energy required to power those stadiums. 

Nevertheless, major league sports are changing the narrative and making commitments towards sustainability. The USGA, for example, has made significant strides in creating professional golf more sustainable. Their governing body has invested almost $47 million in the past four decades, going towards promoting turfgrass and environmental research. Advancements in the past few years have allowed courses to cut as much as 30% of water usage. In 2024, the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Championships, and LPGA Tour will have 25 Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary for Golf (ACSP) certified courses. The ACSP is “an award-winning education and certification program that helps golf courses protect the environment and preserve the natural heritage of the game golf.” Being certified offers support to developers in designing courses that meet economic and environmental objectives. It also ensures that managers apply sustainable resource management in the long-term. 

What’s happening in France? A Greener Summer Olympics

So, how do sports on a global stage, like the Olympics, address sustainability? The Olympics are the pinnacle of athletics, and by working extensively to host a greener Olympic games, Paris sets a prime example of how sports can invest in sustainable practices. Coordinators behind the 2024 Summer Olympics have demonstrated that sustainability is at the core of their operations practices. The 2021 Paris Legacy Plan details social and environmental initiatives that had been planned for the games, including alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement. Climate, biodiversity, the circular economy, and environmental resilience are the four main pillars. With the games now under way, let’s look at a few of the many sustainable practices in place as described by the International Olympic Committee.

Food

A significant portion of food available for both attendees and athletes is plant-based. Paris has dedicated themselves to reducing single-use plastics in catering during the games. Additionally, 100% of catering resources and infrastructure will be reused post-Olympics. 

Transportation

A significant consideration when it comes to emissions generated by athletic events is the transportation that fans and athletes must use to get to the venues. France has carefully chosen venues and invested in infrastructure such that all venues are accessible by public transportation, and 80% of venues are within 10 km of the Olympic Village. 

Venues

While on the topic of venues - 95% of the venues for the 2024 Olympics are either pre-existing or have been constructed and will be deconstructed after the games for further resource use. With an event so large yet so temporary, it is essential to make sure that the venues used are not similarly one-off buildings so that resources are not wasted post-Olympics. 

As stated in the 2021 Paris Legacy Plan, “Sport has an incredible power to mobilise and unite people. It has an important role to play in combating climate change and encouraging action to protect the environment.” With such an outspoken position on the role of sports in fighting climate change, the Paris 2024 Olympics will hopefully usher in a new era of sustainable sports. 

Colleges following the Example

Large sporting events like the Olympics and multiple major league sports have shown their commitment to being more sustainable, and colleges are following suit. Athletics make up a large part of many universities in multiple aspects, from revenue to the student experience. Thus, if universities want to show their commitment to sustainability, creating sustainable initiatives for their athletics program is a good way to show that. Texas A&M set a precedent in 2023, creating an Athletics Sustainability Master Plan. The purpose of the plan is “to create a living strategic document that complements and serves as a guide for how the athletics department will support Texas A&M University in achieving the goals and actions set forth in its 2018 Campus Sustainability Master Plan for the next decade and beyond.” Schools like George Washington University and the University of Richmond have also committed themselves to sustainable practices within their athletic programs. Both universities are working towards zero waste and/or carbon neutral events and creating sustainable stadiums and facilities.

Even student athletes are taking matters into their own hands and speaking out to promote sustainable practices within collegiate athletics. After the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) reversed long-standing rules surrounding name, image, and likeness (NIL), student athletes have been able to be endorsed by companies and organizations. One non-profit, EcoAthletes, inspires and coaches athletes to take climate action. It is the first climate-change focused NIL program. For student athletes that are passionate about the environment and who are willing to use their NIL to be prominent voices in the climate conversation, organizations like EcoAthletes allow them to show their passion and potentially incite their universities to act in a similar manner. In 2023, EcoAthletes held a Collegiate Cup, where student athletes, family, and friends converted their steps, swimming strokes, and cycling kilometers to fund methane capture and conversion into clean electricity in Brazil, and peatland restoration in Indonesia. 

UVA Athletics and Green Initiatives

So what is UVA doing when it comes to sustainable athletics? To start, UVA has a number of initiatives in place surrounding athletics that help us towards our 2030 and 2050 sustainability goals as part of the 2030 Sustainability Plan. One of these initiatives is Green Games, where student volunteers and Office for Sustainability employees come together to divert waste and engage with fans at home football, basketball, and now soccer games. During the 2023-24 school year, UVA Green Games diverted over 66,000 pounds of waste from Scott Stadium and John Paul Jones (JPJ) Arena. JPJ is also certified as a Virginia Green Travel Partner, with commitments to sustainable practices within the arena and energy-saving infrastructure in place. 

UVA athletes are also stepping in to incorporate sustainability into athletics. The Green Athletics group at the university, led by the Office for Sustainability, has been conducting projects and outreach to get UVA athletes involved in sustainability. From promoting plant-based snacks for athletes to polling athletes on their environmental literacy and even reducing single-use plastics in locker spaces, the Green Athletics team has been bringing sustainability into the lives of many athletes. Learn more about UVA Green Athletics here.

Sustainability in sports exists at all levels of competition, from collegiate, to professional, and even the pinnacle of athleticism. Professional and collegiate sports alike can learn from the precedent that the Paris 2024 Olympic Games set in incorporating sustainability into planning, executing, and the legacy of the games. Even athletes are getting involved, using their platforms for advances in sustainability. By encouraging these efforts, we can work towards a future where sustainability is always in conversation with sport