Earth Day

Athletics

In an early celebration of Earth Day, the A's teamed up with Goodwill of San Francisco Bay to host an electronic waste collection drive at the Coliseum on April 13. Fans were encouraged to donate old or unused electronics to help protect our local environment. For every item donated, fans received two ticket vouchers to a 2024 A¡¯s regular season home game.

Additionally, fans who purchase a special event ticket for the A's Earth Day game versus the Nationals at athletics.com/earthday will receive a discount on their ticket purchase, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Goodwill of San Francisco Bay's mission to provide job training and career services.

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Braves Foundation will celebrate Earth Day when the team takes on the Miami Marlins at Truist Park on Monday, April 22. The Atlanta Braves Foundation (ABF) will host its community partner, Food Well Alliance, in the Community Clubhouse in honor of Earth Day. The Food Well Alliance works alongside ABF to maintain urban community gardens, plant fruit trees and orchards in Metro-Atlanta, and provide sustainable food resources for communities in need.

During the game, the Braves will wish a ¡°Happy Earth Day,¡± to The Battery Atlanta¡¯s 3-year-old Magnolia tree, Maggie, which was planted on Earth Day in 2021. Maggie was grown from a seedling taken from the tree that grew in the outfield of the home to Minor Leagues' Atlanta Crackers and Negro American League¡¯s Atlanta Black Crackers.

On social media, the Atlanta Braves Foundation will highlight the team¡¯s sustainability partners and efforts, including Pitch in for the Planet in partnership with Food Well Alliance, One Tree Planted, and Players for the Planet and Greenfield Natural Meat Co., which will sponsor Food Well Alliance orchard maintenance kits this year. The team will also spotlight the Second Helpings food recovery program, which recovered an estimated 47,102 pounds of food from Truist Park in 2023.

The Braves will activate a Green Team, which will collect recyclables from fans between innings during the Earth Day game. They will also test compostable liners in hopes of adding them to the regular cleaning operation.

Baltimore Orioles

As part of the Baltimore Orioles Orange and Black Gives Back volunteer program, Orioles employees will participate in an Earth Day volunteer project with Parity Homes in the Harlem Park neighborhood of West Baltimore, serving the community of our recently announced Adopt-A-School program at Harlem Park Elementary Middle School. Volunteers will help with building benches, laying pavers, installing plants, picking up debris in the neighborhood and sorting books, among other tasks. Parity Homes is an equitable development company proudly headquartered in West Baltimore that acquires and rehabilitates abandoned properties by the block to create affordable home ownership opportunities.

Chicago Cubs

Continuing on the Chicago Cubs¡¯ commitment during the 1060 Project to execute more sustainability initiatives, the Cubs will partner with the American Conservation Coalition and Hefty to activate a Green Team in the Budweiser Bleachers and at Gallagher Way on Sunday, April 21, to divert additional mixed recycling from landfills.

The Cubs also will host a Neighborhood Grounds Crew clean-up event with Hefty, where Cubs associates and Hefty employees will join forces to clean up a local park and the surrounding Lakeview neighborhood.

Trashie will host a donation collection at Gallagher Way for old clothes that cannot be donated or reused. With a ticket to the April 21 game, Cubs fans can receive a free Take Back Bag to bring home for their next closet cleanout.

Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox will celebrate Earth Month with several events to help promote sustainability around Chicago, while organizing volunteer opportunities to advocate for environmental stewardship. In collaboration with Our Roots Chicago, a community-driven, data-informed project to create tree canopies through an equitable approach to each neighborhood, Hall of Fame great Harold Baines and White Sox players joined Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to plant a ceremonial tree and nearly two dozen trees in the Armour Square Park area of the Bridgeport neighborhood. The White Sox join Our Roots Chicago as ambassadors for the effort to help carry out the bold Climate Action Plan of planting 75,000 trees in all neighborhoods of Chicago. The White Sox Volunteer Corps, presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, also will spearhead three service events helping promote a cleaner, greener Chicagoland, including:

• In collaboration with the Alliance of the Great Lakes, White Sox volunteers will meet at 57th Street Beach on Monday, April 22, to participate in the Adopt a Beach program. The group will clean the beach and collect crucial data, aiding the Alliance¡¯s efforts to develop a comprehensive understanding of coastal litter across the Great Lakes region.
• On Tuesday, April 23, Sox volunteers will participate in a clean-up of Lawrence Hall's Serenity Garden, located at their North Campus.
• Joining forces with the Calumet Area Industrial Commission at the Roseland Community Garden on Friday, April 26, volunteers will plant flowers and trim tulips, while collecting trash in the garden¡¯s surrounding area.

Cleveland Guardians

Davey Tree and the Cleveland Guardians are excited to build on their existing Swing for the Trees partnership by celebrating Earth Week and Arbor Day at Progressive Field, April 24-26. Both the Guardians and Davey Tree remain committed supporting Earth-friendly practices and initiatives.

Colorado Rockies

In honor of Earth Day, the Colorado Rockies will release a pregame reel with players answering questions on why sustainability is important to them. Additionally, the Rockies will promote sustainability and Earth Week activations with a special scoreboard loop. The Rockies scoreboard will be themed green similar to City Connect games that will feature Rockies¡¯ sustainability logo for games April 21- 25. The exterior lights will go green for the April 22 night game.

Three finalists selected on April 8 from a poster contest for local sixth-grade science classes on storm water education will be voted on via rockies.com. The three finalists will be awarded on-field at the April 25 game and treated to a tour and pizza party. The official finalists will be announced via social media, in-game and on the website.

Also, during the April 25 game, AFM staff wearing Colorado Rockies sustainability shirts in fan-facing areas will sort recyclables for STEM Day and during games. Rockies mascot Dinger will make an appearance in a special sustainability team vest and participate in sorting recyclables. In addition, the Rockies will feature WM along with other Rockies sustainability highlights in-game.

The Rockies will host a special PLAY BALL event offsite in April where they will give seed packets to youth participants. Vendors on McGregor Square Plaza promoted sustainable food sourcing and gardening on April 19. The Rockies will also have a table presenting sustainability features, with Xcel Energy present. The Rockies will highlight their garden and new plant-based stand on the scoreboard and through other media outlets. The new stand features fully recyclable materials.

Promotion of activations and Earth Week will be pushed to the Ballpark app, which will be branded green for Earth Week, during the games, April 21-25.

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers hosted a spring field clean-up for one of Detroit¡¯s Little Leagues on Friday, April 19. Among the fields receiving upgrades is William Clay Ford Field, the same field on which Tigers legend Willie Horton grew up playing. Recycled dirt and clay from Comerica Park will be transported to and spread across the field. Volunteers from the Tigers staff and grounds crew will also remove weeds and clean parking lots.

In alignment with Earth Day on April 22, the Tigers¡¯ efforts aim to preserve the integrity and historical significance of the field where Horton embarked on his baseball journey. The Tigers will cover the event and produce a short video highlighting the story around it being Horton¡¯s childhood field, restoring a community field and the sustainability aspect. It will likely be posted on a combination of Tigers and Tigers Community channels.

Los Angeles Dodgers

In honor of Earth Day, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be deploying a Green Team on the concourse to collect bottles and cans during the series against the Mets, April 19-21.

Minnesota Twins

Since the first blueprints were drawn for Target Field, the Minnesota Twins have made environmental stewardship a priority. The Club will celebrate Earth Day with social posts and in-ballpark video board elements before and during its April 22 home game vs. the Chicago White Sox.

However, the club¡¯s commitment to nurturing the planet goes beyond Target Field; this season, the Twins are proudly sponsoring an urban farm in North Minneapolis through the club¡¯s non-profit partner Appetite for Change. This urban farm helps provide community members with fresh produce grown locally with regenerative, sustainable and organic gardening techniques. Exemplifying the Twins¡¯ commitment to empower youth, foster belonging and nurture the planet, local youth are also involved throughout the process, planting seedlings, tending plots, harvesting produce and selling it at a local farmers market. On Tuesday, April 30, Twins front office volunteers will lay compost and get the urban farm ready for the growing season.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies¡¯ annual Earth Day employee volunteer opportunity will be held on Earth Day, Monday, April 22, from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at FDR Park, located down the street from Citizens Bank Park. This year, our efforts will be in partnership with Citizens and the Fairmount Park Conservancy. Projects include planting native grasses and trees, removing invasive species and trash cleanup as needed.

Pittsburgh Pirates

In conjunction with Duquesne Light and Pittsburgh Earth Day, the Pirates will host an Earth Day celebration programmed around the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park on Monday, April 22. A pregame hospitality gathering in the AHN Picnic Park will feature vegan food options. An in-game green team will be activated with volunteers from the University of Pittsburgh Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation. Partners and local sustainability organizations will provide informative materials on best sustainability practices during tabling sessions.

San Diego Padres

On April 21, the Padres will host a composting and recycling activation sponsored by Republic Services for fan education. Updated Padres Go Green messaging flyers will be visible on the ballpark waste and recycling bins to engage fans. An Earth Day pregame messaging loop will show on the video board.

On Earth Day, April 22, the Padres will share special social media posts and email blast that features the Padres partnership with San Diego Community Power to provide Petco Park with 100% renewable energy.

San Francisco Giants

In celebration of Earth Day on Monday, April 22, the Giants will team up with forever Giant Hunter Pence once again in support of his non-profit Healthy Planet Project focused on sustainability, reducing and preventing pollution, and creating a cleaner environment in the Bay Area. In collaboration with Pence, the Giants will also create video content featuring Pence hosting a tour of Oracle Park, highlighting notable locations that showcase the Giants' environmental stewardship (i.e. LED field lights, water efficiency, landscaping, recycling, etc.), while providing educational elements. Content will go live on Earth Day on the Giants social channels and a media kit with b-roll and commentary from Pence will be pitched to local media outlets.

Additionally, the Giants will light Oracle Park green in honor of Earth Day using external lights around the ballpark. Fans can learn more about the Giants' sustainability initiatives via their Community Impact Report.

As a pioneer in environmental stewardship, the Giants are dedicated to making sustainability a top priority every Earth Day and beyond. Thirteen-time Green Glove Award winner, Oracle Park remains the first and only Major League ballpark to receive all three U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) certifications -- platinum (2019), gold (2015) and silver (2010) -- for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Buildings, Operations and Maintenance (EBOM). The San Francisco Giants Legacy Green initiatives include:

• The Giants remain one of the single largest contributors to the San Francisco Compost Program, and continue to set industry records with their waste diversion programs centered on recycling and composting.
• Oracle Park¡¯s biological nutrition program utilizes beneficial bacteria and fungi as well as an integrated pest management system to significantly reduce the use of unhealthy pesticides, while promoting and maintaining healthy soil and turf.
• Turf management is supported by advanced drone imagery helping to direct the decision-making for highly sustainable water and fertilizing processes.
• LED field lights and sustainable field irrigation practices substantially reduce energy consumption and water usage. Solar arrays reduce the usage of gasoline, charcoal and propane.
• Cutting-edge anaerobic towers (The Garden) grow fresh vegetation, eventually served at concession stands throughout Oracle Park.

Tampa Bay Rays

For Earth Day 2024, the Tampa Bay Rays are working with local environmental non-profits on tabling activations and educational opportunities. The Rays are also utilizing our volunteer-led internal sustainability committee to surprise and delight fans that recycle intentionally and properly. In addition, the Rays will be active on social media showcasing some of the work we¡¯ve done in the community and our ballpark.

Washington Nationals

While the Nationals have an off-day on April 22, every day is Earth Day at Nationals Park with season-long and year-round initiatives.

As the first major sports facility in the U.S. to earn LEED-certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, Nationals Park was a pioneer in green design upon its construction and is still considered one of the most environmentally friendly ballparks in the country today, and has been improved further with new LED field lights this offseason. The ballpark includes more than 4,000 solar panels, which supply an estimated 10% of the ballpark's electricity needs each year, and outdoor furniture built from recycled milk jugs.

Fans can catch a glimpse of the CareFirst Giving Garden above the concessions in left field; the garden minimizes roof heat gain and provides locally sourced produce to local underserved communities.