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Congratulations to the New England Patriots on their 6th Super Bowl win last night! While this is a huge achievement for Tom Brady, the real star of the show may have been the stadium in which the game was played. Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz stadium is the world’s most sustainable sporting venue and has the highest LEED certification score of any sports facility ever. The stadium has a long list of sustainable street cred:
82,500 square feet of LED lighting, including an LED scoreboard
On-site solar array which generates 1.6 million kilowatt-hours, enough energy to power 10 Atlanta Falcons games
Capacity to store 2 million gallons of stormwater to help prevent flooding in nearby neighborhoods
48 EV charging stations
Additionally, the stadium is in downtown Atlanta and leads the NFL with the highest percentage of fans using public transportation to attend Falcons games. The stadium event has a bike valet for fans commuting to games by bicycle.
Why This Matters: Big sporting events like the Super Bowl can generate a tremendous amount of waste and use staggering amounts of energy (not to mention the carbon intensity of fans traveling to the game). The NFL has made a commitment to reducing waste and increasing sustainability at the Super Bowl and through its leadership, new stadiums are following the lead and incorporating these metrics into their design and planning. As Axios reported, while 6 NFL stadiums currently have LEED certification, and others have clear plans in place, 6 operate absent any announced initiatives. Additionally, the NFL recently announced a membership with the Green Sports Alliance, an organization aimed at encouraging green and renewable practices at sporting events.
by Erin Simon, Head of Plastic Waste and Business, World Wildlife Fund After a year of unprecedented devastation and loss, the arrival of 2021 has shown us at least a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Our top priority remains the immediate health and safety of our fellow citizens, but we […]
Fish are so darned hard to count — they live under the surface of the water and they are constantly moving! One of the most important things to know when trying to determine the health of fish stocks is how many have been caught by fishers — particularly the 13.2 million recreational anglers in the […]
Why this Matters: Many of former President Trump’s energy and water policies were not only bad for the environment but also cost-inefficient and burdensome for American consumers, so reversing or amending these rules could benefit customers as well as decrease emissions and water use.
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