Deutsche Bank Championship Looks To Become Carbon-Neutral
By Jon Show, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
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Deutsche Bank Championship Looks To
Become First Carbon-Neutral PGA Event |
This week’s Deutsche Bank Championship near Boston is taking strides to become what could be the first carbon-neutral event on the PGA Tour. Similar to many professional sporting events, the tournament is instituting better recycling programs and trying to reduce waste. This year, it will power generators and transportation vehicles with biofuels and sulfur fuels, use more locally produced food, and cut in half the size of its daily pairing sheet. Still, those steps aren’t enough to cancel out the event’s carbon footprint. “Even with all these efforts it’s not possible to have zero impact, so the idea is to calculate the total greenhouse gas impact of the event and purchase offsets that will effectively neutralize the carbon emissions of the event,” said Deutsche Bank spokesperson Ted Meyer. The financial institution hired England-based EcoSecurities, which specializes in projects to reduce greenhouse gas, to perform a study of the carbon footprint created by tournament operations, as well as the travel of players, fans and media. Deutsche Bank will purchase enough carbon emission credits to offset the agency’s estimation that it is responsible for emitting 2,000 metric tons of carbon. The exact cost was not available but should be mid-five-figures based on current market prices. Bank officials believe the offsets would make the tournament the first carbon-neutral event on the PGA Tour, but tour officials could not confirm that claim.
ON THE GREEN: Earlier this year, the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, partnered with Florida Power and Light to buy enough credits to offset 956 metric tons of carbon to power four rounds of competition. The Players Championship, the tour’s flagship event, also might purchase carbon credits for next year’s tournament. Two PGA Tour employees spearhead green initiatives. At tournament meetings last March, they briefed organizers on how to run more environmentally friendly events primarily through improved recycling and waste-reduction programs.
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