Forget Football, Green is a Go for MLB

You may still be reeling from the NFL gameday upsets, but let’s not forget that baseball spring training starts in about a month. Before the ice thaws on home plate, some stadiums are taking this downtime and undergoing some major stadium updates.

Last Tuesday, the Minnesota Twins announced that its new stadium will feature a rainwater recycling system, which will capture, filter and purify water for reuse at the venue. The water will be collected throughout the 7-acre stadium and used to irrigate the field.

The Twins estimate that the system will reduce the club's use of municipal water by about 2 million gallons per year. However, Target Field will still draw 50 percent of its water from the municipality. Photo: Flickr/John McNab

“Clean water and conservation are worldwide issues, but that being said, I believe that they hit closer to home in the Land of 10,000 Lakes,” said Twins President Dave St. Peter.

A big step in the right direction the rainwater system may be, the Minnesota team is jumping on a green bandwagon that’s chugging along at full speed in the MLB.

Coming up on its second year in the new stadium, the New York Yankees have committed to making the park more sustainable.

Recycling and composting have cut down the venue’s waste by an estimated 40 percent. Leftover food is donated to shelters, soup kitchens and other community food programs throughout the Bronx.

The organization also recycles its cooking oil, producing biodiesel fuel. This has amounted to a savings of 8,879 gallons of oil and production of 7,192 gallons of fuel for the World Series champs.

But as some teams have proved, it doesn’t take millions of dollars in new construction to implement cost-saving, eco-friendly features.

For the Texas Rangers, the 2009 season marked the successful continuation of a recycling program that started in June 2008. The Rangers featured 100 recycling bins at the team’s Arlington baseball stadium, collecting aluminum, paper and plastic.

The Washington Nationals set the bar high for recycling last year when it partnered with Coca-Cola North America’s “Give it Back” recycling campaign. The franchise installed more than 100 Fan Cans in Nationals Park to promote recycling bottles and cans.