Courtney Hamilton's Blog
Greening your Fantasy (Baseball League)
March 11, 2008
Posted by Courtney Hamilton in Living Sustainably
Some tips for the virtual sports tycoon who wants to follow the lead of major-league baseball's just-announced greening initiative:
Stage 1: Research
Avoid bedside piles of player-stat baseball magazines this year.
- Go Online and skip the mags. Simple internet search functions mean less time, less money, and less trash.
- Put your computer to sleep and kill your screen saver during research breaks. Screen savers keep your computer running at full speed even when you’re no there. Killing the screen saver can cut your electric bill by at least $50/yr.
- Or as a last resort, if you can't give up your catalog fix, choose the recycling pile instead of the trash can when it's time to toss them out.
Stage 2: Draft
When meeting with your Fantasy Baseball guys for the draft consider:
- Location: Reduce your commute, choose a central location for your draft party. (If all the guys in your league work in your office, and the 9th floor conference room is open after 6.30pm, and no one is there to hear it, does it matter if you use it for the draft?)
- Carpooling: This includes giving rides to your friends who don't have cars.
- Do an online draft: They work just as well, and as an added perk you can look up stats online at a moment's notice when faced with an unexpected draft choice.
Stage 3: Party
- Beer: Choose local mirco-brews, they’re tastier, express local pride, and they don’t travel as far keg to cup…
- Choose reusable plates, cups and silverware (in other words, your regular daily stuff) for your game day party. Or at least choose recyclable or compostable.
- Buy the Jumbo size: When your buddies are coming over, grab the bulk size instead of 16 single servings. Less packaging, less trash to drag to the curb, and bulk = discount, leaving extra cash to spend on tickets to the real game.
Stage 4: Gameday
You've got tickets, you've got beer, you've got...
- Public Transportation? Hey, there's no arguing about who's the designated driver when there is no car.
- Or carpool with your friends: Planning ahead to travel with your fellow tailgaters is actually the ecofriendly choice. You can also make your friends pitch in for parking and gas.
- Or choose a Park and Ride service: Any and all of these choices will help decrease post game traffic, and simultaneously reduce your obligation to have to deal with it.
Stage 5: Go Mobile
Rarely does an environmental group make the suggestion that you should use or buy a new suped-up cell phone — but in the case of Fantasy Baseball, it makes sense.
- Turn off your computer, use your cell: Almost any cell phone with internet access can be used to check stats AND leave the house. And cells use less electricity, and free you up to do other activities, like watching the local game in the bar with friends.
- Use a laptop: Mobile and designed to use 50-75% less energy per year than a desktop and monitor -- in the long run, they'll save you $$ on your electricity bill.
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- Courtney Hamilton
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Comments
Angry African — Mar 11 2008 07:10 PM
Puh-lease. Why not start with recycling in all venues?
Courtney Hamilton — Mar 13 2008 05:10 PM
AA- you make a good point. Fortunately recycling is becoming easier every day.
With the greening of the MLB, teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates are taking steps to make recycling at games and stadiums much easier.
At bars and restaurants, you can ask "do you recycle?" if the bar does, great, and if not, you can either take your business elsewhere or rest assured that just by asking you've communicated that recycling *is* a priority for you as their patron.
(and skepticism aside, sometimes they might start to recycle-- there is an awesome hole-in-the-wall Mexican place by my house that started recycling after I asked them a couple times if they returned their glass Jarritos bottles for recycling/deposit)