From the Can: Forward Progress

As far as I’m concerned, autumn is the single best time of year in general, but it is especially sweet if you are a sports fan. Baseball reaches its crescendo and college and pro football are magically available for viewing almost every night of the week (much to my wife’s chagrin). It is a particularly heady moment in my neck of the woods as at the time of this writing my #3 ranked alma mater Georgia Bulldogs are on their way to the Southeastern Conference Championship game, and the Atlanta Falcons are a stunning 9 and 1. I pray I have not jinxed either organization.

I mention sports because they often are credited for helping to usher in larger societal changes, as evidenced by the integration of baseball long before segregation was abandoned in many parts of the country, the way in which Title IX recognized the need for equal opportunities for women, the wide adoption of new broadcast technologies largely to improve the ability to transmit and consume live sporting events, and even the recent vociferousness of several NFL players engaging in the gay marriage debate.

It should serve as little surprise then that sports have long had a similarly and uniquely progressive attitude toward recycling and sustainability. One of my first memories of seeing a recycling receptacle in public was at a sports arena here in Atlanta. And that trend is only accelerating, as more sports organizations and venues recognize that there are considerable financial and public relations incentives to going green.

In his feature, “Take Me Out of the Waste Stream,” Waste Age News Editor Allan Gerlat surveys a wide range of sports teams and facilities and learns about the various ways they are embracing sustainability and how that game plan is paying off for them. Moreover, it shows how they are benefitting by forging strong ties with waste and recycling services firms.

I hope that wherever you are, your hometown team is doing well; or if they are not, that you have access to excellent beer.

As always, I welcome your thoughts. Please email me at [email protected].