Environmental Stewardship

Environmental Stewardship for Athletic Facilities

As the public becomes more aware of the environmental issues facing the world today, sports facilities are beginning to turn to more environmentally friendly practices. Major sports events use energy, emit greenhouse gases, and produce huge amounts of trash. For example, a single college football game can produce 23 tons of waste. The 2006 Super Bowl in Detroit produced 500 tons of carbon dioxide from transportation and utility usage. The 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens produced half a million tons of carbon dioxide in two weeks.

About 16 million tons of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere every 24 hours by human use worldwide, and the United States is the single largest emitter of this greenhouse gas. Although Americans make up only 5 percent of the world’s population, we consume 26 percent of the world’s energy, spending about 440 billion on it annually. Energy consumption is only expected to increase. At this rate, about 30,000 lives are cut short in the U.S each year due to pollution from electricity production. The following explores existing options for sports facilities to become more environmentally conscious.
http://www.solarenergy.org/resources/energyfacts.html


Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Water Efficiency
Stormwater Management
Renewable Energy
Carbon Credits, Renewable Energy Credits, and Carbon Offsets
Transportation
Lighting
Heat Islands
Brownfields
LEED

Environmental Stewardship for Athletic Fields

Organic and IPM Practices

Organic management involves the use of all natural, nonsynthetic substances. Synthetic substances and some materials of natural origin are becoming increasingly restricted or prohibited depending on the active ingredient and geographic location. There are currently no national standards concerning organic management for turf or land care. However, individual states have their own standards or certification programs. For example, the Department of Environmental Conservation in New York on Long Island is working toward a toxic free future. One of the ways is by collecting old, unwanted pesticides and disposing of them properly. Residents are also working to eliminate use of all synthetic pesticides by making completely organic programs on golf courses a requirement. A big push for sports turf managers to convert to organic practices is to limit the use of pesticides in areas where children may be exposed.

The best way to reduce pest pressure on athletic fields is to establish and maintain a healthy, dense stand of turf. This alone will significantly reduce the amount of pesticides applied to a field. However, if pests do become a problem, the only solution to keep the field alive may be to use a pesticide. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs have provided the most environmentally friendly approach to effectively managing a sports field. Although pesticides are still used, they are applied selectively and responsibly. The following will explore completely organic options as well as effective IPM programs that can be applied to athletic fields across the country.


Organic Management Practices

Our best defense against disease, weed or insect infestations is to establish and maintain the healthiest stand of turf possible. Components for a successful organic management program address soil issues, species selection, cultural practices and traffic management.

Soil Issues
Species Selection
Cultural Practices
Traffic Management
Natural Pesticides


Integrated Pest Management Practices

Integrated pest management (IPM) is meant to combine all of the available pest management methods to produce the healthiest turf possible. It does not completely eliminate pests, but maintains the population or damage at a tolerable level. This level is called the pest response threshold level and is determined by the amount of pest damage that can be sustained before an unacceptable reduction in turf quality occurs. This varies depending on the site and expectations. For example, an athletic field is going to have lower tolerance for infestations than a home lawn. Pesticides are often a part of an IPM program, but they are selected and applied responsibly to avoid health risks to humans, animals, and other non-target life forms.

In order to have a successful IPM program, the turfgrass manager must be knowledgeable about turf and pest lifecycles and their responses to cultural and chemical inputs. The practices outlined in the organic management section can significantly reduce pest activity and the need for pesticides and should be followed for the most effective IPM program. These practices include addressing soil issues, selecting the best turf species, utilizing proper cultural practices and managing traffic. Frequent, careful monitoring can determine the identity, location and population of weeds, insects and diseases so they can be controlled before threshold levels are exceeded. Once a problem is diagnosed, corrective action can be taken based on historical data, turf and pest lifecycles, factors favoring pest development, and predetermined pest thresholds. Control options include cultural, biological, genetic, and chemical methods. These options depend on effectiveness of the control procedure, cost of the treatment, size of the area to be treated, availability of labor, availability of equipment necessary to do the job, and reaction of the end user. Finally, actions can be evaluated and recorded for future management decisions.

IPM programs produce the healthiest turf possible for a given set of growing conditions. It allows for accurate and efficient pest control so pesticide misuse is minimized. This could lead to reduction of costs and pesticide use. Pesticides should only be used when absolutely necessary to maintain turf quality in an IPM program.

References: Information for this section was taken from University of Illinois – Integrated Pest Management for Turfgrass Managers, and Penn State University – Developing an Integrated Turfgrass Pest Management Program

Pesticides

 Helpful Websites:
Pesticide Labels and MSDS Sheets
Pest Facts
Integrated Pest Management in Schools
Debug the Myths

Publications:
The Benefits of Turf - Ohio State University
Urban Nutrient Management - Virginia Tech