MILWAUKEE — For the second consecutive year, the Brewers are promoting sustainability and encouraging their fans to "go green" for a week at Miller Park.
With the Brewers kicking off a series with Toronto on Monday night, the team announced that it will kick off a week-long "Green Week" initiative aimed at keeping the environment in and around Miller Park as environmentally friendly as possible, while upping the park, the team, and the community's sustainability.
Last year's program was a success, as the Brewers planted one tree for every 20,000 tickets sold, amounting to 154 trees along the Hank Aaron State Trail. The team also collected 40,000 pounds of electronic waste and picked up over 500 pounds of trash as part of the initiative in 2011.
This year, the Brewers hope to do even better with their e-cycling event taking place on Thursday, during the team's off day, when anyone can bring any electronic waste free of charge to dispose of at Miller Park.
But for Brewers senior director of business operations, Teddy Werner — the point man on the team's "Brewing a Greener Game" initiative — the program is about making the community and the people's lives affected by the Brewers and Miller Park more sustainable.
"It's more informative than anything and educational," Werner said. "We want to alert our fans to not just what we're doing, but that there are measures that they can take, not just in their home or work but in the community to operate in a more efficient and sustainable manner."
Werner said that education includes teaching community members that they can affect the environment and live a better life by doing more than just recycling.
"Everybody thinks that when it comes to going green, recycling comes to mind first," Werner said. "But I don't think that people realize that there are so many other ways that you can lead a more sustainable life and basically keep the community around you a better place."
That's the ultimate goal for Werner and the rest of the Brewers crew during "Green Week" this week, as Werner described three reasons for the team to attempt to be more sustainable: a social responsibility to help the community, ensuring the long-term viability of the Miller Park facilities, and of course, reaping the economic benefits that come with sustainability.
The current sustainability initiative in place at Miller Park has been active for about three years and has proven to be a success, as the stadium became just the third in major league baseball to receive LEED certification in the category of Existing Building Operations and Maintenance.
That's just one of the steps in the Brewers' effort to create a better environment for fans and those around Miller Park. And this week, by encouraging fans to go green, the Brewers hope to take another step forward in their goal to make Miller Park — and Milwaukee, as a whole — a better environment for everyone.
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