Are Baseball Stadiums Green?
Brian and I took advantage of the beautiful, sunny, dry July weather to go to a triple- A baseball game on Friday night. The Tacoma Rainiers were playing the Fresno Grizzlies at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. It was a great game with both teams playing well.
While it would be easy to give you a rundown of the game, instead, I’m going to talk about the stadium itself. And make some general statements about other stadiums regarding their eco-friendliness.
Cheney Stadium is a small, family friendly stadium nicely situated near Highway 16 in Tacoma, WA. It has nice parking lots with enough parking to meet the stadium’s needs and is close to a bus line so public transit can also be used to get there.
As you walk up to the entrance, there are big signs that boldly state “No outside food or drink is allowed in the stadium”. We ended up leaving our reusable water bottles in the car and resigned ourselves to spending a small fortune on water. Most professional athletic stadiums have this policy. I understand. They make a ton of money on food purchases and many stadiums have fund-raising programs for local non-profits to work the food booths. There is also a risk of people bringing glass containers and injuries occurring. While I understand, I do think they could be more environmentally friendly by allowing people to bring in empty water bottles and then have a few filling stations inside.
After going through the usual bag check and security line, you enter the stadium right into the food court. They have a wide variety of food, from BBQ, to Ivar’s Chowder House, the requisite hot dogs, Mexican and pizza. None of it is GREEN, remotely clean or even pretends to be organic, farm to table, or any other option in the Healthy Living realm. When we go to places like this, I try to choose the least obnoxious option and then detox the next day. I’m better on some days than others. Living green is a journey and there are potholes and bumps sometimes.
A bottle of water is my least favorite thing to have to buy… I just cringe when I need to. The said bottle here was $4.50 for a 12 oz bottle AND it was Nestle. I almost didn’t buy it. But, it was in the 80’s, which is quite hot for the PNW and I couldn’t go the entire evening without water. I chose not to pursue hunting down a water fountain and asking for a cup to fill because I am not familiar with the stadium and the cups provided are usually Styrofoam.
We ordered food. I splurged with chicken and fries. Brian got tacos with refried beans. Brian’s beer came in a non-compostable but recyclable plastic cup and mine came in an aluminum can because they were already out of draft for my choice. And then the water bottle.
Enjoying the game
We found our seats right behind home base and scoped out the stadium. Like all professional stadiums the field was beautiful, carefully groomed grass. I can’t help but think about the amount of water and chemicals used to keep that grass green. I wonder the same thing with golf courses, football (both American and Soccer) fields and other athletic fields. I also wonder if the companies that manage them pay more for water during a drought or if they stop watering like the rest of us. I’ll have to do some more research on that.
Anyway, back to the stadium. Off to the side, there was a miniature baseball diamond for activities with the children. This was made with indoor-outdoor carpet and was super cute. There was also a lawn area near the kid’s playground where blankets could be spread out. The only downside was its location in the late afternoon and evening sun. If you were on the lawn and actually trying to watch the game, the sun would be in your eyes much of the game. And, again, what type of chemical load is in that grass?
Brian purchased our tickets to make sure we were in the shade. While we crave Vitamin D in the PNW, I am pasty white and burn easily. And his family has a history of skin cancer. Neither of us enjoy basking in the sun, so the shade was perfect.
The game started and was fun to watch. AND the side entertainment of the Rainiers’ mascot, Rhubarb the Reindeer was good. I had always thought their mascot was a moose. HeHeHe, either way, Rhubarb does a good job entertaining the kids and is cute.
Rhubarb the Reindeer
@rhubarbthereindeer| Twitter
After a few innings of people watching and good plays, they took a quick break to groom the infield. This was the greenest approach to grooming an infield I’ve seen. The true definition of MAN POWER was used as a group of guys did a finely choreographed march through the infield with what I can only describe as raking boards. Fun music played, and girls danced on the dugouts while these men accomplished their task. It took the same amount of time as a lawn tractor and was probably more efficient from a coverage standpoint.
As the game concluded and people started to leave, we noticed the large quantity of drink carriers, cups, food containers and programs strewn about the bleachers. These fans definitely weren’t like the Japanese fans at the World Cup who stayed after the game and cleaned up the stadium. But, I don’t believe they were any messier than your average movie theater or other athletic stadiums. Quite a sad testament to the attitude of consumers in certain situations.
There were multiple garbage cans strategically placed at each entrance to the bleachers. A container for recycling was also placed there for bottles and cans ONLY. There were no containers for other recyclables like the drink carriers or for compostables like food scraps and napkins.
The game we attended was the first in a series of 4 games, so the same program would be used for the next three nights. Since our program was gently used, we put it back in the box next to the gate, so it could be reused the next night.
In general, I don’t think any professional athletic stadium is green. There is quite a bit of room for improvement. Especially around waste management. I think Brian and I will be researching to see if any Green groups are advocating for greener practices in professional stadiums. And will be sending a letter to Cheney Stadium requesting to meet with them about implementing inexpensive greener practices. What can you do in your local area to help your stadiums model greener practices?
24 Comments
I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the amount of waste they generate!
It does kind of boggle the brain doesn’t it? It can be overwhelming to see the amount of waste generated at most venues and events. And some of it isn’t even truly “waste”. When you see the pictures and read about people leaving tents, coolers, backpack, even bikes after vacationing in the National Parks because it’s just too inconvenient to pack it back out and donate it if no longer needed. Wow! Maybe I’ll do a story on this if I get a chance to talk to some of the organizations working to reduce this problem.
Even starting to recycle at the stadiums would be a start! Or to dump all the half drunk water bottles on a plant or water barrel for reuse on the lawn… I’m sure there are options, but like you pointed out with people not picking up after themselves to begin with, how do you get them to use those options?
That’s a great idea to ask people to at least dump their half empty water bottles in a barrel for reuse. Or have a barrel available for the clean up crew. What I find interesting is how “Green” the Seattle area claims to be but then the event venues aren’t participating. A recycling can is a start but there’s definitely a long way to go!
They won’t even let you bring in an empty bottle and refill it in there? We worked concerts at the Amphitheater in Vancouver, WA for years and the waste…oh my…and no recycling either.
Are you still in the PNW? I find the efforts to be green vary widely from business to business. The movie theater near our house used to let you bring in an empty water bottle and fill it once you got inside. They stopped doing this recently. I think they maybe changed owners or realized they were missing revenue with the policy. Unfortunately, the almighty dollar drives corporate decisions more than the greater good does. I’m really hoping with the current focus on plastic in the ocean, this attitude will change.
I’m in NY and the stadium is definitely NOT green! The nice thing is that you can bring your own food as long as it isn’t in a cooler. I always bring snacks and stuff for my son.
Nice that you can bring your own snacks in! So much easier to have healthy, inexpensive options for your family. Which stadium allows you to bring your own food?
Wow, I hadn’t really thought of how much waste baseball stadiums generate. And then I think about football stadiums, and soccer stadiums (because the FIFA World Cup just ended). Sports are clearly a billion-dollar business around the world, but there’s not much being done to make sure the industry is environment-friendly.
You’re right. Sports offer so many benefits but there is definitely room for improvement in this area.
Wow. There is so much room for improvement. I’m going to see what I can find out about my local sports stadiums.
Never really thought about it before. I bet there are lots of inexpensive and easy green things to do but we don’t think of them because this is the way we’ve always done it. Good luck on your meeting!
I am sure there is so much room for improvement, but using the manpower (no machine involved) is great idea!
This is such an important point. I know that the stadium here in Hawaii isn’t green. There are many different things that they could do to head in that direction. It is a great idea to bring up. Thank you
I love the way you brake this down. I’m becoming more aware of the green factor and the waste wherever I go. Mind-boggling. Citifield in NY and Fenway in Boston do let you bring your own food and water in to the stadiums. It’s a start I guess.
Can’t believe I spelled break wrong – sorry.
I always notice the waste and leftovers when we leave places like stadiums, theaters, and other event areas. It always blows my mind how much trash there is and how many people can’t seem to pick up after themselves. I think it’s great that you guys are trying to find solutions and working to solve the problem! We can all do more!
Sounds like a fun night. Like you, I cringe at buying bottled water. I paid $7 for a bottle last night at a concert. Same deal – can’t bring our own reusable ones in. Sigh.
I agree with everyone above – lots of room for improvement. I do find it sad that you can’t bring in your own reusable bottle…..
I can’t bear it when people don’t tidy up after themselves! I always think that when I go to the movies. Popcorn containers everywhere!
You know I never thought about this! So interesting. Thanks for shedding some light to it.
Are you sure the grass on the field is real? I think it would look muddier or more torn up from their cleats as they run after balls and stuff. I know our big Aloha stadium does not have real grass so no chemicals or use of extra water to keep it beautiful. 😉 Would that be considered green?
There is definitely a lot of waste at major events. But I do love my Chicago Cubs and love going to their games! I also think that sadly, they have to be so careful nowadays with people bringing in their own food and drinks because of the world we live in; which unfortunately means venues often would rather people not bring in their own containers, etc.
Interesting info!