Major League Baseball Goes Green

Baseball fans have a lot of fun and consume a lot of food at major league games, but they also produce a lot of trash. Correspondent Lee Patrick Sullivan reveals the Seattle Mariners' novel solution to this problem -- getting rid of almost all non-compostable packaging at Safeco Field -- and the surprising results it achieved. He also visits the Seattle's area's composting facility, which handles all the ballpark's food waste, and examines its unique process. He also looks at other was the team saves money and energy, and and the one-of-a-kind way it "gives back" to the fans.

Lee Patrick interviews Scott Jenkins, vice president of ballpark operations for the Seattle Mariners, who struck out with his plan to get fans to separate compostable waste from trash that would go to a landfill. Jenkins explains how he ultimately made his plan work by making the fans' decisions for them. Jenkins also discusses how the Mariners' other energy efficiency efforts have saved them more than $1 million over three years -- despite rising utility rates. Lee Patrick then talks to Susan Thoman of Cedar Grove composting, who demonstrates how a mountain of waste from the ballpark is broken down to dirt in just eight weeks. The Mariners celebrate their success in composting by giving some of that dirt back to their fans for use in their lawns and gardens, and Lee Patrick finds himself in the middle of the fan giveaway.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• baseball
• composting
• energy efficiency
• green sports
• King County
• recycling
• Safeco Field
• Seattle Mariners
• trash
• waste