America's favorite past time and America's coolest new trend are finally teaming up. Yep, baseball is going green.

The Boston R ... [more]

America's favorite past time and America's coolest new trend are finally teaming up. Yep, baseball is going green.

The Boston Red Sox — with a little helpful guidance from the NRDC — have announced efforts to transform historic Fenway Park from a friendly environment into an environmentally friendly one as well. Over the next five years the Sawx say they plan to ramp up an already successful recycling program, improve removal of stadium garbage, and even consider installing solar panels to reduce the park's energy consumption. All designed, they say, to culminate in 2012, when Fenway will be feted by players and fans alike as "America's Most Beloved Ballpark."

“We are not only committed to preserving the history, beauty, and integrity of Fenway Park, but we are also determined to enhance the park’s environmental attributes so it can serve our team, our fans, and our community in the 21st century as well as it did in the 20th century,” said Larry Lucchino, President/CEO of the Red Sox. “We look forward to beginning this process with the help of some key partners," he added.

One of those partners, Waste Management, plans to install new and improved recycling bins throughout the park so that it will be easy for even the most "jubilant" of fans to know where to chuck his beer bottles. These progressive efforts might not win any more games for the team, but they'll certainly lead the league in good karma, not to mention saves (saves in trees, gallons of oil and water, and hours of electricity that is).

Also getting in on the greening of the Green Monster, is Aramark, the concessionaire at Fenway, who said it will focus on providing environmentally-friendly food products to customers. Sure, you'll still be able to get your foot long mystery meat chili dogs and your peanuts and Cracker Jacks, but for those interested in a healthier alternative, the park will feature locally-grown organic produce as well.

In what might be the most ambitious green initiative of them all, KeySpan (the UK's largest utility company) is consulting with the Sawx on a solar panel installation for the roof of the park’s fifth level, which could provide a pollution-free source of energy for heating. Anyone who has ever been to Fenway in October should feel cozier just thinking about that notion.

Now, if they could just figure out a way to harness all the energy created by 50,000 raucous fans when the Yankees are in town, they'd really be on to something.
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