The NFL has a rapidly growing environmental component to Super Bowl, which the Host Committee supports through local implementation. The objective of the NFL Environmental Program is to evaluate the environmental impacts of Super Bowl activities and then work with the local community to develop and implement cost-effective and sustainable projects to address them.The NFL accomplishes this through five main initiatives - solid waste management, material reuse, food recovery, sports equipment and book donations and greenhouse gas reduction.
During Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa Bay, you'll see:
- Unserved, prepared food from NFL-related parties donated to local food banks
- Solid waste recycling throughout the Super Bowl footprint
- Sports equipment collections by area schools
- A material donation program which donates décor, office supplies, construction materials and other items used during Super Bowl to local non-profit agencies
- Renewable energy used at major event venues
- Tree planting as an offset to the additional greenhouses gas created by Super Bowl-related activities
Super Kids - Super SharingKids can get connected to the Super Bowl recycling movement through the Super Kids - Super Sharing sports equipment and book donation project. Super Kids-Super Sharing is a joint community initiative of the NFL, Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Tampa Bay YET Centers and local schools.
Participating schools collect lightly used or new books and sports equipment beginning in the early winter of 2008. About a week before Super Bowl, a collection event is held at the NFL Youth Education Town. Volunteers from each school deliver donated items. Representatives from the NFL and Host Committee will be on hand to thank students and organizers.
The Tampa Bay community has already joined forces to collect more than 600 items at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers home game against the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 30. Click here to read more about the successful program launch.
Schools interested in participating or those with questions about Super Kids - Super Sharing should contact Susan Groh with NFL Environmental at (401) 732-1551 or by email at nflenvironment@aol.com.
A dozen different tree planting projects are scheduled throughout the Tampa Bay area in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLIII at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1. The projects range in size from individual tree plantings in downtown areas to huge plantings of thousands of trees in environmentally sensitive management areas. These projects are part of the NFL Environmental Program’s urban and community forestry initiative, developed in partnership with local, state and federal agencies.
This is the fifth year that the NFL has developed urban forestry projects as part of its overall environmental program at Super Bowl. This year marks the first time a long term monitoring program will be put in place to track the environmental impact of the tree plantings. Using software developed by the US Forest Service and with the support of the Florida Division of Forestry, data will be collected from planting sites over time to help calculate the actual greenhouse gas impact of the trees each year.Trees have already taken root at Egmont Key, along the McKay Creek Greenway, in Plant City and along the Terra Ceia shoreline. Stay tuned to www.tampabaysuperbowl.com to find out where the next planting will be popping up.
