Supporting The Team In Green

When you write about issues, such as gambling, drugs or racism, it's sometimes interesting to look back after a while and question whether your work led to any change in perceptions or behaviour. Even if a very small number of people took in the message of your story, I think it can be considered a worthwhile achievement.

Of course, even if things have moved along, it's hard to know to what extent your work specifically played a role. I guess that's one of the hard things about being a journalist. A million people might read your story but rarely is there any feedback. And, if people do feel moved to comment on your story, it's usually to criticise it. Given that's the case, the general rule is that 'no feedback is good feedback'!

Last week I looked through a file on my work computer of some of my favourite stories from the past few years and found this one.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/it-aint-easy-being-green-20110611-1fy16.html

When I pitched the story, the editors loved it. It was new, had widespread appeal, social value and could be presented well in the paper.

The thesis of the piece was that many sections of society were concerned with finding ways to environmentally clean up their practices. The movement was not confined to community levels, but included governments and the private sector. Environmentalism had become enshrined in the notion of executive and corporate responsibility. This, I believed, must include sporting organisations.

Picture: www.afl.com.au

In an era of billion-dollar television deals and the ever-growing reach of sport, governing bodies such as Cricket Australia, the AFL and NRL find themselves in a privileged and highly responsible position of playing a key role in setting standards for society. The average person these days probably listens more to the messages of sporting organisations than they do elected representatives.

There are some areas in which the conduct of sporting organisations have been exemplary. The AFL's work to abolish racism from its sport, for instance, is a beacon. But I wonder if the same can be applied to the way these bodies have handled their responsibility to educate and set a good example on protecting the environment.

Many times I've sat at a match, be it AFL, rugby union, cricket, rugby league or soccer, and looked up at the gigantic light towers glaring down from above, turning night into day, shining onto massive electronic screens at each end of the ground. Sport at night rates better on TV. Executives don't really care at what cost. Many times I've looked at the passageways between rows of seats at the end of a match and seen stacks of empty plastic and paper containers, waiting to be scooped up and discarded into huge bins by teams of cleaners. The car parks outside the grounds are full - who wants to get a bus or a train to and from the ground? They sit in traffic jams at the end, motors chugging away.

Picture: www.sla.net.au

 What about the teams themselves? Players and staff fill aircraft every week, traveling the country to play in nationwide competitions. In 2005 and 2006 I traveled with the Sydney Swans. It was staggering how much time these guys spend on planes, criss-crossing the country. No longer are competitions local, like the NSW rugby league or the VFL. Every major sport in the country has a national competition. Add up the kilometres traveled in just one of these seasons and the number is alarming.

Picture: www.smh.com.au

The original idea of that story I wrote was to quantify just what's going on here and ask the question 'Is anything being done about this?' There are a couple of companies in Australia who advise organisations and businesses on how to 'green' their ways, but when I rang some and tried to get them to help me add up the environmental cost of sporting events and competitions, none were forthcoming. I got some good information out of the AFL, in particular - they seem quite progressive on this front compared to the others - but it was a surprisingly difficult story to do. In the end, the story simply highlighted that this is a growing problem, one that we should demand sporting organisations take seriously as part of their corporate responsibility and one that we all should consider next time we go to a match.