St. Louis Cardinals hosts third annual Green Week - STLtoday.com

In celebration of the 42nd anniversary of Earth Day, the St. Louis Cardinals will host their third annual Green Week, April 24 through April 29, with activities designed to promote recycling, both inside and outside of Busch Stadium.

Tuesday, April 24: The Cardinals will host an e-cycling drive in collaboration with Goodwill. Fans may drop off unused or unwanted electronic equipment at trailers in the Ballpark Village Parking Lot, located at the corner of Clark Street and South Broadway. No fees will apply and all electronics will be accepted in any condition. Goodwill will also accept any of your clothing, furniture, home décor and housewares. All donations are tax deductible and Goodwill will provide receipts for items donated. In return, fans donating will receive a voucher good for half off Cardinals tickets. The event will run from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit cardinals.com/greenweek.

Friday, April 27 through Sunday, April 29: The Cardinals, in partnership with Shoeman Water Projects and Phones2Water, will collect shoes and cell phones at the Busch Stadium gates before the games during Green Week. Fans are asked to clean out their closets of any unwanted shoes, tie or band them together and drop them in the designated shoe collection bags. Shoeman Water Projects’ sister charity, Phones2Water, will also be accepting donations at the gates. Shoeman Water Projects and Phones2Water creates clean drinking water for those in need by selling shoes and cell phones to exporters for resale and then using the money generated from those sales to purchase well-drilling rigs and water purification systems in developing countries.

The St. Louis Cardinals Green Team is a group of volunteers who walk down the aisles of the seating bowl in-between innings collecting recyclables from fans and promoting recycling at Busch Stadium. In exchange for their services, they are able to watch the game in standing room only sections of Busch Stadium, as collections are only done in-between innings and during pitching changes so as not to disturb fans trying to watch the game. With the help of these volunteers, the St. Louis Cardinals were able to divert over 535 tons of materials from local landfills during the 2011 season. To sign up to volunteer, e-mail to 4agreenergame@cardinals.com.

The Cardinals have partnered with Sachs Electric, Microgrid Energy and the Electrical Connection to bring solar energy to Busch Stadium. During the offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals installed 106 solar panels, producing approximately 32,000 kWh of solar energy per year. The two solar arrays are located on the roof of the ticket building on Clark Street and atop a concession canopy in the left centerfield bleachers. To raise awareness of solar energy, an educational kiosk providing information about the project and solar energy in general is being installed in Ford Plaza.

Fans are also encouraged to donate new or gently used baseball and softball equipment at special bins located throughout Busch Stadium, as part of “Rawlings Replay.” “Rawlings Replay,” which was established in 2011, supports Redbird Rookies, the flagship program of Cardinals Care, which provides disadvantaged youth with the opportunity to play baseball for free, as well as a variety of other support services. Fans are also encouraged to donate at St. Louis area Johnny Mac’s locations and receive a special discount in-store on new Rawlings products. Members of the Cardinals Kids Club (cardinals.com/kidsclub, receive an additional voucher, good for two tickets to a 2012 game, if donations are made at Johnny Mac’s.

Lastly, with the help of Pure Power, the Cardinals will offset energy consumption by purchasing renewable energy credits (recs) for the duration of Green Week. By purchasing 10,000 KwH/recs per game for three days, the Cardinals will prevent 284,991 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering Missouri’s atmosphere, which equates to all 25 Cardinals players, nine coaches and Fredbird not driving their cars for six months.

Since the launch of the 4 A Greener Game initiative in 2008, the Cardinals have diverted over 1,836 tons of solid waste from local landfills, and Busch Stadium continues to become more energy efficient through participation in Ameren Missouri’s Business Energy Efficiency Program.

--The team has reduced its energy use by 20% and its water use by 10% since the new stadium opened in 2006.

--29% of the team’s waste was diverted from landfills in 2011.

--On average, four tons of trash are recycled at Busch Stadium each game.

--550 recycling bins are located throughout Busch Stadium.

For more information about Green Week, please visit cardinals.com/greenweek.