Friday, August 28, 2009

Green Living by Janet Marchant: Sustainable Sports


Lately, I picked up a newspaper in my aromatherapist's waiting room, and noticed with excitement that there was an entire section devoted to green living! It was even printed on green paper, which is usually a good clue that something is environmentally friendly. At first, I thought the focus of the articles was on fashion, because the title of the section was "Sporting Green," I thought as in "She's sporting a splendid, sustainable, free-trade, hemp chapeau today." However, after reading a few of the articles, I realized that they were all about environmentally conscious athletes.

For example, did you know that pitcher Nick Green brings his own natural, relaxed style to a baseball team called the Red Sox? With all that red and green together on the same diamond, it must be like Christmas for sustainably living sports fans.

And then there's a local team called the Green Bay Packers. I assume they are made up of green-thinking football players from many different cities in the Bay Area, and that they pack their games full of energy-saving plays, organic cotton uniforms, recycled nacho cheese, and all kinds of other wonderful green features.

Best of all, though, is the auto racing team Andretti Green Racing. I can just imagine Marco Andretti beating out all of the competition in a super-efficient hybrid racecar that gets almost 2 miles to the gallon! Car racing has to be one of the best sports on the planet, and now it could be the best sport for the planet. If only we could all drive the way that racecar drivers do, we would spend a lot less time in cars, which is what we're supposed to do to help keep our planet healthy.

So remember that next time you're on the freeway. Every little bit you do to increase your speed and reduce your travel time can add up to a big difference!
Isn't it wonderful how inspiring sustainable sports can be?

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