Over the past decades, there has been a large rise in popularity for stadiums. They have become prominent figures across various sports and concert venues. However, the construction of all these stadiums can raise some concerns about the environment and the impact on it. First, the construction of stadiums is harmful, because the harvesting of materials such as concrete and steel causes deforestation, depletes resources, and raises carbon emissions. Also, maintaining stadiums that have fields can also be a tricky issue, and can be the cause of misused water.
However, some of the most important environmental impacts come from outside of the stadium. Before and after events, there is a slow line of cars leaving the stadium, which causes many idling cars to emit unnecessary amounts of CO2. Also, before the game there are many people that are tailgating, where many people fire up their grills. All these factors are detrimental to the air, as the pollutants caused before the game cause pollution spikes that are 20 times over the moderate air quality level. This is a huge issue, which sometimes cannot be avoided due to the size of the stadium and the number of people.
One of the other biggest issues with stadiums is the amount of waste produced. For example, the EPA reported that 50 to 100 tons of waste is produced at an average college football game. While this may seem like a huge amount, you could play it off as there being a very large crowd at these games. However, this is heavily due to the incorrect usage of recycling opportunities and composting. Many stadiums have started learning to implement recycling bins more recently, but waste is still a huge issue within stadiums. Also, many stadiums draw on huge sums of power, as they require large amounts of lighting, and are not very sustainable overall.
While some issues cannot be changed outside of the stadium (car pollution and tailgating), there are big changes that can occur within the stadium. Stadiums should increase their accessibility to recycling, as even recycling bins around the corner of trash cans can help eliminate a large amount of waste. Recently, I was at a football game in Atlanta, and had the pleasure of visiting the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium has achieved Zero Waste, which is when they divert 90% or more of waste away from the landfill. They achieved the LEED Platinum Certification, being the first professional sports venue in the entire USA to achieve it. This means its sustainability measure represents the pinnacle of sustainability. While I was there, I noticed that all their concessions sold were only compostable or recyclable, and that the bins shown had very clear signs (as seen below). Also, they have solar panels lined around their roof, canopies, parking lots, and entrances. They provide around 1.6 kilowatt hours of renewable energy a year.
While general environmental challenges will always persist, many stadiums should start implementing sustainable practices such as the Mercedes-Benz stadium has shown is possible. These will help offset the issues outside the stadium and allow for a more sustainable future in stadiums; and it will help mitigate the environmental impact.
CleanRobotics. “The Problem with Stadium Recycling and Waste Management.” CleanRobotics, 18 Nov. 2022, cleanrobotics.com/the-problem-with-stadium-recycling-and-waste-management/#:~:text=EPA%20reports%20that%20an%20average%20college%20football%20game,are%20among%20the%20biggest%20and%20most%20crowded%20places.
Contributor, Guest. “America’s Leading LEED Certified Stadiums and Arenas.” askHRgreen.Org, 23 Apr. 2018, askhrgreen.org/americas-leading-leed-certified-stadiums-arenas/.
Filipeboni. “Understanding LEED Certification Levels.” UGREEN, 9 Aug. 2023, ugreen.io/understanding-leed-certification-levels/#:~:text=LEED%20Platinum%20is%20the%20highest%20level%20of%20certification%2C,most%20innovative%20and%20advanced%20green%20building%20strategies%20available.
Gosalvez, Emma. “Sport and the Environment: What Is the Connection?” College of Natural Resources News, 6 Nov. 2020, cnr.ncsu.edu/news/2020/11/sport-and-the-environment-what-is-the-connection/.
“Sustainability at Mercedes-Benz Stadium: Leaders in Zero Waste.” Sustainability at Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Leaders in Zero Waste, www.mercedesbenzstadium.com/sustainability#:~:text=Mercedes-Benz%20Stadium%20is%20designed%20to%20be%20extremely%20energy,campus%2C%20is%20equipped%20with%204%2C000%20solar%20PV%20panels. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.