KarunaNews Story

Solar panels, towering above a sea of green football jerseys at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, produce about 40% of the stadium’s energy annually and renewable energy credits offset the rest. Stadium staff manually sort recyclables, and an on-site compactor crushes aluminum which is sold for recycling and reinvested into the stadium’s sustainability program. The venue is among several NFL stadiums that have made strides in lowering their carbon footprints. Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home to the Falcons in Atlanta, became the first professional sports stadium internationally to achieve a Total Resource Use and Efficiency Platinum certification for diverting 90% or more of its waste from landfills. It has a garden that grows fruits and vegetables used by the culinary team, a 680,000-gallon cistern that collects rainwater for irrigation, and 4,000 solar panels. NFL Green, the league’s sustainability program, aims to leave “a green legacy in the communities we visit,” said Anna Isaacson, senior vice president of social responsibility. The next Super Bowl will be held at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, which has 1,162 solar panels, a rooftop garden that yields about 10,000 pounds of crops annually, and recycles and composts 70% of all materials.