Earth Day 2021 & Malaysian Sports
Credit: Life Tackle
#EarthDay2021: Malaysian sports must finally recognise the role we must play to protect our environment -from grassroots to professional. There's awful wastage that impacts our environment. From the stadiums to watch matches to the fields we play. Recognise & play our role.
We have experienced a lot either when we go to watch or play sports in Malaysia. There’s a lot of unacknowledged wastage throughout. In that we must do our part. How to play our role? Here’s some list of things that we can do that we credit to EPA dot GOV
Sports Facilities Recycling - Teams are offering recycling bins inside stadiums in addition to garbage pickup.
Why it matters: Recycling, or turning trash into new products, is such a simple and effortless move. Collecting and processing old materials can benefit anyone's community and the environment by reducing waste and conserving resources. Considering what sports stadiums looked like at the turn of this century, having recycling bins in every stadium and arena is major progress. However, in Malaysia there’s still a lot of work to be achieved.
Donating Food - Teams donate leftover food to pantries.
Why it matters: Food waste has an adverse environmental impact, and there are many less-fortunate people who are craving a good meal.
Plastic Bans - Plastics hurts the economy and environment.
Did you know that Tottenham Hotspur has banned plastic drinking straws from its venue. The Twickenham rugby facility has rolled out a reusable cup infrastructure. And the London Marathon made compostable cups for the participants to drink from while racing on the course.
Why it matters: Plastic is difficult to recycle, so banning plastic is a positive step. Malaysian sports across all levels from the grassroots to professional has a lot of plastic waste.
Infrastructure Upgrades for Green Travel - Sporting facilities must make it easier for mass transit and green travel.
Why it matters: The traditional transportation model of driving to games, parking in lots and enjoying the event needs an update. In developed nations. With new venues and urban development, many pro sports teams are making it easier to bike or train to games. Malaysia did attempt to adopt a bicycle sharing initiatives during the 2017 SEA Games, but there needs to be more work to encourage participation.
That’s just four ideas to many more out there. We recommend you to take the initiatives to find out more. While we do our best to help as well to guide and suggest materials to refer towards to make this world a better place for all. As there’s so much that we can do.
Fun Fact: Did you know that in 2019, we implemented a plastic ban for our recreational sports programs. Means, we do not accept the free water that most venues provide. And we have been encouraging our participants to bring their own tumblers from home.