by Beth Rifkin
Personally, I thought tennis was "Green" by default; after all, there’s minimal equipment involved, it runs on clean burning body-power and plastic bags aren’t necessary. Apparently that's not really the case, especially if we want to "protect the places we play" by improving the air we breathe.
Good thing the Tennis Channel Open (TCO) is on a mission to create more environmentally conscious tennis fans. They've even established "Green Initiatives" for the court, one of the first U.S. ATP tournaments to do so.
The Las Vegas-based tournament, taking place March 3-9, 2008 at the Amanda & Stacy Darling Memorial Tennis Center, has several tricks up their sleeve to seamlessly integrate eco-friendly ways into the lives of tennis fans. For starters, ticket holders will receive a free recycled shopping tote and a chance to win a recyclable water bottle (available at the TCO tournament booth). Recycled plates, napkins and containers will be used by all concession stands, the event's overall waste-management systems have been upgraded to be more ecologically sound and on-hand will be numerous tips on how to adjust your day-to-day habits at home, work, while traveling and on the court.
On March 4, every child that participates in the Kids Day activities will be given an organic cotton
T-shirt and StopGlobalWarming.org will distribute "take action" tip sheets, stickers and postcards. And throughout the week the tournament's apparel vendor, Tour Concepts, will provide earth-friendly options to patrons with 100% organic cotton caps and T-shirts.
Attendees will also be encouraged to recycle their old tennis balls, cans and racquets throughout the week by bringing them to the special collection bins at the Tennis Center. The cans will be recycled while the balls and racquets will go towards introducing kids to tennis through the Public Education Foundation Teacher EXCHANGE Program of Las Vegas.
This environmentally conscious attitude is no fleeting phase for the tennis-loving-channel; the stance is being undertaken by the entire network! On March 3, www.tennischannel.com/servegreen will become active, offering general tips and information, a "Did you know?" section and a series of 60-second clips illustrating ways to become ecologically friendly called, "Green Shorts".
David Egdes, tournament director and senior vice president of tennis industry relations, Tennis Channel, says of the effort, "Tennis Channel Open gives our network the perfect opportunity to raise environmental awareness on a large, wide-reaching scale. By making an effort to decrease waste, and use recyclable and recycled products at our tournament we're hoping to send a message to the community and beyond that everyone can do little things to make a big difference."
After all – One Sport, One World!
About the Tennis Channel Open:
Owned and operated by Tennis Channel, Tennis Channel Open, an ATP outdoor hardcourt tournament, offers prize money reaching $500,000. The 32-player draw includes star-power the likes of defending TCO champion Lleyton Hewitt from Australia, Russian Marat Safin, Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, Marcos Baghdatis from Cyprus (pictured above), Argentinean Guillermo Canas, and American's Robby Ginepri, Sam Querrey, John Isner and the world no. 1 doubles team, Bob and Mike Bryan. www.tennischannelopen.com
Tennis Greens:
Over the next several weeks TennisStar.net will be highlighting a series of stories on the different ways that the professional tennis world is working to bring awareness and helping to improve the environment.
February 29, 2008
