The Arizona Diamondbacks have added D-backs Greens, a vertical urban garden, sponsored by UnitedHealthcare, at Chase Field to provide sustainability and educational opportunities throughout the remainder of the season. D-backs Greens will be located on the northwest wall of the stadium, just outside the main gates and will be visible to all fans for the remainder of the season.
D-backs Greens will contain nearly 200 assorted herbs, including sweet basil, chives, garlic chives, lavender, oregano, rosemary and more that will change seasonally. The garden was designed and created by a local company, Flower Street Urban Gardens, and features 180ft2 of vertically hanging planting space. With the support of UnitedHealthcare, the D-backs will use D-backs Greens as an educational tool to teach fans about sustainability efforts and encourage healthy eating. As part of the D-backs’ sustainability efforts, the team will utilize compost produced in part from organic material collected from ballpark kitchens to enrich and enhance the soil in the garden.
The D-backs have also partnered with Coors Light to install a D-backs-logoed sculpture in the rotunda that will be filled with more than 1,000 Coors Light beer cans collected after D-backs games throughout the second half of the season to illustrate their combined recycling efforts.
Throughout the first half of the season, the D-backs have made significant strides in the team’s sustainability efforts and already this season have diverted more than 18 tons of organic material from the waste stream through a new organics collection program. Through 48 home games this season, the D-backs and Levy Restaurants have also donated more than 6 tons of unused concessions food to Church on the Street, which equates to roughly 10,000 individual meals that help people in need in the Phoenix community.
Heading into the 2017 season, the D-backs had taken great strides to make Chase Field and D-backs games a more environmentally friendly experience for fans, including:
• In partnership with Waste Management, the D-backs added 200 dual recycling bins throughout all concourses; each bin is made with 1,300 recycled milk jugs.
• Replaced paper towel dispensers with 50 high-efficiency hand dryers in concourse restrooms, which will reduce over 1,000 miles of paper towels from the annual waste stream.
• Retrofitted 425 toilets and 260 urinals with low-flow flush valves, reducing water usage in these areas by 50%.
• In partnership with Levy Restaurants and Waste Management, the D-backs launched a compost program to collect organics from ballpark kitchens and other areas of the ballpark.
The D-backs continue to make sustainability a priority, and over the years have incorporated the following changes to positively affect environmental change:
• D-backs’ Spring Training complex, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, was the first LEED Gold-certified sports venue of its kind in the USA.
• The APS Solar Pavilion, which covers 17,280ft2 above the Chase Field plaza near the ballpark’s western entrances and ticket office, provides extra shade over the ballpark’s heaviest-used entrances and generates 100,000kWh of solar energy; enough electricity to power the lights at Chase Field for 11 home games.
• The Arizona Diamondbacks are proud members of the Green Sports Alliance, a coalition of professional sports teams and sporting venues committed to promoting greening initiatives in sports.
• Fans with electric-powered vehicles can charge their cars at one of the three electric car-charging stations located at the northwest corner of 4th Street and Jackson.
• Completed this past off-season, all concourse lighting, administrative parking, player parking and ballpark parking garages have been converted to energy-efficient LED, resulting in 60% savings in power consumption annually.
• Utilization of a building management system for timely and efficient control of facility lighting and cooling, further reducing energy consumption.
• All of the disposable cutlery and plates Levy Restaurants used at Chase Field are recyclable or compostable.
• Full and half-season season ticket holders are issued a reusable Loyalty Cup to use for discounted beverage refills which minimizes waste.
• Uniforms worn by D-backs game-day staff are made from RPET material, in which 16 recycled bottles contributed to the fabric of each shirt.
July 26, 2017
