Global Forum for Sports and Environment
Padres Win Recycling Award
A month after the Padres christened their new ballpark with a win over the San Francisco Giants, researchers from San Diego State University rifled through 8 tons of waste after a Friday night game, as part of a waste-characterization study, commissioned by the city environmental services department, targeting Petco Park and the resident baseball team for improvement in the way they handle trash. The results of that initial study prompted the Padres to launch a series of standards and practices, including the addition of 150 recycling bins, aimed at reducing the amount of ballpark trash that makes it into the Miramar landfill, which is rapidly filling up. Clear successes could be found in the follow up study conducted in September 2004, that showed reductions in the amount of solid waste sent to the landfill in four of five main categories: plastics, metal, glass and organic materials. Less positive results were found with paper recycling which accounts for almost 24 percent of all ballpark trash. According to the researchers, the surprising increase may be due in part to a poster promotion the team sponsored on the night of the September game. Although there are no rules forcing the Padres or anyone else to recycle in San Diego, the team has committed to lead the way. "We wanted to go into this and really be a model program," said Richard Andersen, the Padres executive director and managing director of Petco Park. "It's doing the right thing, but it's also just setting a good example." According to Andersen additional waste analyses will be performed over upcoming baseball seasons so the team can continue to measure how much trash it is able to recycle. LINKS LINK : |
20 May 2005--The San Diego Padres were among 12 organizations presented with the City of San Diego’s highest honor--the Recycler of the Year Award. Recycling more than 149 tons of materials and reducing waste disposal costs by more than ,500 in 2004, the Padres have set a goal of being the most environmentally friendly stadium in sports.