Forty years ago a U.S. Senator called Gaylord Nelson started a ‘teach-in’ week that focused on the environment. Over the years the focus has become one day in that week: April 22^nd. This has become known as Earth Day.  MLB like many sports generates a large amount of carbon emissions and waste. Just think of all the air miles the players pile up in one season.

MLB Clubs Working Together

Since 2008, MLB has been working towards being an environmentally-conscious sport. The initiatives have been very secular with each club working on their own.  This week MLB has announced the creation of a system with the ‘Natural Resources Defense Council’ (NRDC). The system that has been designed to pull the data from all 30 clubs into one central place.  The idea is the system will “distribute best practice information across the 30 Clubs”.

“Major League Baseball has responsibilities to our fans and the society at large that go beyond the playing field,” said Baseball Commissioner, Allan H. (Bud) Selig. “Our Clubs have made a commitment to sustainability and are leaders in their communities raising awareness and educating fans not just on Earth Day, but everyday about environmental stewardship.”

This week to celebrate Earth Day a number of the clubs will be showcasing their green programmes such as the Atlanta Braves who are offering discounts to visitors who bring recyclables along.

UK Baseball and The Environment.

The environmental impact from MLB is large and they need to have big initiatives to offset some of the damage. However maybe it is time to look closer to home with the British season currently starting this weekend. Do we need to think about the impact we are having on the environment? To a certain degree UK teams already do this through measures such as car-sharing and keeping the grounds we use clean. The next question is how we can extend our efforts to make UK Baseball an environmentally-aware sport?

What is the baseball community currently doing and what can we do to improve the impact the game of baseball has on the environment in this country?

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