Portland hosts first Green Sports Alliance Summit
The first Green Sports Alliance Summit is being held in Portland, Oregon, US, from 1-3 August 2011. The Green Sports Alliance describes itself as a “non-profit organisation with a mission to reduce the environmental impact of professional sports and to inspire fans to join us in these efforts”.
More than 100 people are attending the conference, including representatives from professional sports teams and sports venues.
The summit began on the evening of 1 August, with a panel discussion between panel members Sarah Severn, a Nike executive; Sarah Mensah, chief operating officer for the Trail Blazers; Joe Abernathy, vice president of stadium operations for the St. Louis Cardinals; and Dave Krichavsky, the NFL’s community affairs director.
The participation of Nike is particularly significant. When Nike employees suggested adopting sustainable business practices around 20 years ago, then CEO Phil Knight was not keen.
“Phil Knight wasn't as much in love with the concept as some of the rest of us, but he never got in the way," Ms Severn said at the start of the conference.
In answer to a question about the influence of their organisation's leadership on sustainability, Ms Severn said Mr Knight may have been sceptical years ago about sustainability and preoccupied with criticism of the company's overseas manufacturing practices.
Mark Parker, a vice president at the company when the notion of sustainability was gaining a toehold, has been supportive from the start, she said.
“He has been an advocate for this all the way,” Ms Severn said.
