PGA, U.S. Open Aim for Eco-Friendly

BOSTON, Mass. — The 'green Olympic Games' ended Sunday, the day before the spotlight shifted to tennis and the U.S. Open, which is pulling from its sleeve some green tricks of its own.

Move over, tennis. Golf picks up the green mantle Saturday with the Deutsche Bank Championship, the first carbon neutral event on the PGA Tour and the latest in a string of sporting events whose planning gives a nod to the environment.

"Golf is a sport enjoyed in natural surroundings, and our goal is to continually reduce the environmental impact of our event, and to offset any remaining impact, so that the Championship can be enjoyed by generations of fans to come," said Seth Waugh, Deutsche Bank Americas CEO, in a statement.

The Boston event will team with Waste Management and Anheuser-Busch for aluminum and plastic bottle recycling. The size of thousands of daily pairings sheets handed out every day will be halved and the will be printed on recycled paper. Power generation and spectator transportation will run on low sulfur diesel or biodiesel. Ride-sharing will be promoted for attendees, while staffers and players will ride in fuel-efficient fleets.

Over in New York, the U.S. Open enlisted the help of consultancy Environmental Resources Management and Natural Resources Defense Council to make its event more eco-friendly.

"Big-time sporting events provide a unique platform to educate fans on green initiatives, and we feel that the best way we can educate is to lead by example," Arlen Kantarian, CEO of Pro Tennis, U.S. Tennis Association. "We have a plan that will lessen the environmental impact of the event and heighten the environmental awareness of those who attend it."

The U.S. Open partnered with Evian for recycling program that intends on recycling more than a half-million plastic bottles and 20,000 aluminum cans from the venue. It bought enough Renewable Energy Certificates to match consumption and hybrids make up one-fifth of the players' fleet. The tennis balls will be reused, tennis cans recycled. The 2.4 million napkins used are comprised of 90 percent post-consumer waste.