Today’s post is from Cole Rothman.
Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastics enter our ocean and more than 150 million people attend live sporting events each year in the US alone. While these two statistics seem entirely unrelated, think about the last time you went to a sports game. What did you eat? What did you drink? Whatever it was, it was likely wildly overpriced, but what didn’t you notice? What you might not have noticed —and what the sports industry has yet to notice— is that your food and drinks likely came in a single-use container.
Every time I go to a sports venue, I feel guilty about the amount of single-use containers I use. The problem is there isn’t usually a viable alternative. Venues typically don’t allow you to bring in outside food or beverages so that they can charge you $50 for a hot dog because they know you’re hungry. Venues, for the most part, don’t use reusable containers because they don’t want to deal with the cleanup after the game. That leaves you with one alternative. single-use containers… an absolute mountain of them.
One study estimated that sport event attendees account for more than “39 million pounds of trash per year in the U.S.” A small portion of this total is organic waste, but the majority of this astronomical figure comes from single-use containers. Many organizations around professional sports have committed to increasing their recycling efforts in their venues, but don’t understand that they’re missing the point entirely. It’s not about marginally improving their already incredibly environmentally damaging practices. It’s about addressing the foundational problems in the sports concessions business model.
We don’t need recyclable single-use containers. We need no single-use containers!
It’s high time professional sports organizations stop doing the bare minimum environmentally and use their enormous platforms to make meaningful and lasting change. The Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Florida) is doing just that. The Miami Dolphins Stadium recently committed to phasing out 99.4% of single-use containers in their venue. A promise, if kept, would eliminate more than 2.8 million plastic items annually.
THAT’S JUST ONE VENUE!
Imagine what the world would look like if every venue did that. It’s not like it wouldn’t be profitable either. If anything, it could reduce some concessions margins to have reusable containers. The Miami Dolphins are selling reusable, stainless steel cups for more than their plastic counterparts. The reasons for change are endless, but it comes down to sports venues around the globe stepping up and making the environment a priority. It’s our job, as consumers, to put endless pressure on sports organizations and venues until it happens. Climate Change is the fight of our generation. Everyone must do their part.
Thomas J. Grant Jr., Green Monsters: Examining the Environmental Impact of Sports Stadiums, 25 Vill. Envtl. L.J. 149 (2014).