By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now
This weekend, while fans get ready for the New Orleans Saints face off against the Indianapolis Colts at Sun Life Stadium for Super Bowl XLIV, the National Football League will be running some of its own green plays.
The NFL will donate all leftover food from Super Bowl events to local agencies under the leadership of Daily Bread Food Bank. Over 65,000 pounds of leftover prepared food was donated after last year’s Super Bowl.
Also on the donation list will be decorative materials from all venues, building materials, office supplies or equipment from NFL Headquarters, and non-perishable food and beverages. The materials will stay in the South Florida community to be reused by local non-profit organizations such as the United Way.
The NFL, in partnership with the Miami Dolphins, the Miami-Dade NFL Youth Education Town (YET) Center, the Boys and Girls Clubs and several local school districts, encouraged children to re-use by giving back. The Super Kids-Super Sharing Sports Equipment and Book Donation project worked to collect used sports equipment and books from local kids for donation throughout the month of January. All items will be donated to under-served schools throughout the South Florida area.
The NFL also is partnering with NextEra Energy Resources to provide clean energy to this year’s Super Bowl. NextEra Energy Resources, the largest wind and solar producer in North America, will supply Green-e certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) through its EarthEra initiative. This is the fourth year that the NFL will use renewable energy, via RECs, to power the Super Bowl and its related events.
“Leading companies and organizations, such as the NFL, are actively addressing the environmental impacts of their activities and taking steps to make a difference for future generations,” said Nate Hanson, vice president of NextEra Energy Resources. “Through our EarthEra initiative, we partner with leading organizations to mitigate their impacts on climate change, promote sustainability initiatives and provide them the ability to join us in building a clean energy future.”
Football fans can also show their green spirit by going online to learn how to minimize their carbon footprint.
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