Sport and Environment: “green” solutions for an ecologically sustainable physical activity

by | Apr 26, 2021

Sport is one of the activities that most benefit our health. It can be performed in gyms, in our homes, in the green and is commonly associated with well-being and a healthy and active lifestyle. For this reason, it may be difficult to realize that it can also cause problems to the environment. Thus, it is necessary to find virtuous solutions that make sport more “green”.

The impact of sporting events on pollution

The promotion of sport collides with the important impact it has on nature. Sporting events are, in fact, highly polluting. 

Think of a major sporting event that moves fans from all over the world: these mass movements alone result in a large amount of carbon emissions. Sports facilities, airplanes, trains, or cars require excessive consumption of fuels, water resources and produce a large amount of waste. 

Sports also impact the ecosystem where these events take place. During events, the land is altered due to the construction of tourist infrastructure, additional portions of land are “stolen” and then used for solid waste disposal. Moreover, noise and light pollution damage the life of local fauna.

Sport and environment: what we can all do

It is evident that, although a large part of the problem is caused by the mismanagement of these large events, the individual has just as much responsibility.

Tourists, in fact, tend to make excessive use of natural resources, electricity and water, they choose to make very long journeys to attend an event contributing to the emissions mentioned above.

Tourists also create inconveniences among the local community by causing traffic congestion, noise pollution and garbage.

The White Paper on Sport: “green” sporting events

In 2007, the European Commission drafted the “White Paper on Sport” marking a new chapter in sport. In fact, the issue is recognized by the European Union, which issues “green” guidelines useful for all organizers of sporting events.

In addition, many organizations are joining programmes such as Sport for Climate Action of the United Nations, to find specific solutions for their sport or draw up guidelines based on local needs.

Television broadcasters have also started pro-recycling campaigns to talk about plastic production and consumption and raise awareness among fans.

Sport and waste collection: the adoption of plogging

Actions, however, did not start solely “from the top”. The need for a cleaner world and to regain a civic awareness and education led to the creation and adoption of “plogging”.

Plogging is a neologism, it refers to picking up trash while jogging. It originated in Sweden in 2016 but is spreading all over the world like wildfire. 

Plogging events are also organized in Italy by several associations. Among the most famous we have Retake, a reality spread throughout the territory that has adopted among its activities of maintenance, redevelopment, and care of public spaces also this combination of sport and environmental cleaning.

Conclusions

Although it is evident how far there is still to go, it is also clear that everyone – sportsmen, environmentalists, sports organizations, the European Commission, and ordinary citizens – is striving for an increasingly green future.

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