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NFL Green | NFL.com

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NFL Green, the league's environmental program, works to mitigate the environmental impact of the NFL's major events and create a "green" legacy in each community that hosts Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, and the NFL Draft. These objectives are addressed through active partnerships with NFL sponsors, local host committees, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations.

NFL Green projects are hands-on and make a lasting difference in each host community – one that remains long after the big game is played, or the big event has ended. Since its beginning in 1993, NFL Green has earned recognition for Super Bowl as the greenest professional sports event in America.

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Food Recovery

Food Recovery

NFL Green partners with local food banks and event managers to ensure that prepared, unserved food, and packaged snacks and beverages are donated to help feed those in need. The NFL also works to ensure leftover products from sponsor activations are included in food donations. Super Bowl events can generate as much as 140,000 pounds of donatable food and beverages.

Community Greening

Community Greening

NFL Green has incorporated community greening projects into the management of Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, and the Draft by working closely with local community organizations and parks and recreation departments. Projects include planting trees, contributing to green spaces where kids can play, creating community gardens in areas with limited access to fresh produce, restoring habitat, and engaging in reforestation projects where tens of thousands of seedlings are often planted. Funding to support these projects comes from the NFL, NFL sponsors, local event host committees, and from local grant recipients who provide a dollar for dollar match for each greening project grant.

Material Recovery

Material Recovery

Signature events generate tens of thousands of pounds of material such as décor fabric, carpet, building materials, and other donatable items. NFL Green builds coalitions of community partners to recover these valuable materials and donate them to local nonprofit groups like Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, schools, and local artist groups. This is a substantial benefit to local nonprofit organizations and keeps materials out of landfills. The network that NFL Green builds for each event is preserved and shared with the local community and with incoming event managers who can then use this resource to donate and repurpose material from other, non-NFL, events.

Recycling and Solid Waste Management

Recycling and Solid Waste Management

NFL Green works closely with the stadiums and facilities hosting events to maximize and increase recycling and waste diversion rates. Sponsors have engaged to support Zero Waste and fan engagement initiatives. Each host community presents unique opportunities for waste diversion from local landfills. Waste diversion programs are designed each year to take advantage of existing venue practices and community infrastructure for recycling and composting.

Green Energy

Green Energy

Green energy in the form of renewable energy certificates is used to power major events. Each year the NFL inventories the estimated electricity usage at event facilities and then purchases renewable energy certificates (RECs) equivalent to that energy usage total. Purchasing RECs helps provide funding to increase "green" electricity capacity throughout the country and is a scientifically accepted method for mitigating the greenhouse gas impact of our energy usage.

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Force Blue Spearheads 100 Yards of Hope

The Miami Super Bowl Host Committee and NFL developed a high-profile coral reef restoration project in partnership with Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the University of Miami, Frost Science Museum, Verizon, and Force Blue – an organization of retired military Special Ops veterans who are dedicated to restoring coral reefs and helping to heal our oceans. The original project is expanding under the guidance of Force Blue as "100 Yards of Hope" and a football field sized reef is being planted with support from the Florida Aquarium, the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee, the NFL, NOAA, NFL sponsors, and others.​