Seattle Sports Teams Join the Center for Green Schools at USGBC for Green Apple Day of Service

Professional teams with the Green Sports Alliance participate in service projects to support healthy, high-performing schools

SEATTLE (Aug. 1, 2012) – Today, the Seattle Mariners, Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Sounders and Seattle Storm, along with the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Washington Green Schools and Seattle Public Schools, joined community volunteers and students from Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth High School to conduct a service project to gain momentum leading up to the Center’s Green Apple Day of Service.

The Green Apple Day of Service is a global initiative to take real action in support of healthy, sustainable schools. On Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012, the Day of Service will engage students, teachers, parents, business leaders, elected officials and others in volunteer activities at schools and campuses in their communities. With help from the Green Sports Alliance and through generous support from Skanska, the Center will use this service event with the Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders and Storm as a way to encourage other professional sports teams in the Green Sports Alliance to participate in service projects on Sept. 29.

“Seattle’s sport teams are committed to keeping the local community green and they have demonstrated that by creating some of the most environmentally responsible sports venues in North America,” said Jason Twill, sustainability manager at Vulcan Inc. and founding chair of the Green Sports Alliance. "We believe projects like these can help inspire others to make small but significant changes to help the environment. We are pleased to support the Center for Green Schools and Washington Green Schools in making our local schools a little greener.”

To set an example for the Day of Service in September, the teams, organizations and students worked to improve the Joan Allen Memorial Garden at Denny International Middle School by building raised planting beds, planting fall crop seedlings, weeding existing planting areas and improving the school’s garden storage shed. Volunteers were served a zero-waste lunch with menu items made from produce grown in the school’s garden including potatoes, carrots, onions and kale.

"There are two things every American loves: kids and sports. The initiative that these Seattle teams are taking around our Green Apple Day of Service couples our future leaders and America's favorite pastimes,” said Rachel Gutter, director of the Center for Green Schools. “Through our partnership with the Green Sports Alliance and their members, we are excited to show the rest of our world that where we send our kids to school truly matters."

Participants at the event included Jose Banda, Seattle Public Schools superintendent; Lucas Luetge and Tom Wilhelmsen, Seattle Mariners pitchers; Forey Duckett and Kerry Carter, Seattle Seahawks alumni; students from Denny Middle School and Chief Sealth High School; players from the Seattle Sounders and Seattle Storm. Following the event, volunteers from McKinstry led walking tours of Denny School to teach students about energy use.

We would also like to acknowledge Cedar Grove for donating soil and compostable service ware and Howard S. Wright for donating all the lumber material for the project.

For more information about the Day of Service and to get involved, please visit: mygreenapple.org.   

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About the Center for Green Schools at USGBC

The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is how USGBC is making sure every student has the opportunity to attend a green school within this generation. From the kindergartner entering the classroom, to the Ph.D. student performing research in a lab, the Center provides the resources and support to elevate dialogue, accelerate policy and institute innovation toward green schools and campuses. High-performing schools result in high-performing students, and the Center works directly with staff, teachers, faculty, students, administrators, elected officials and communities to drive the transformation of all schools into sustainable places to live and learn, work and play. www.centerforgreenschools.org

About the Green Sports Alliance

 The Green Sports Alliance is a non-profit organization with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance. Alliance members represent 13 sports leagues and over 90 sports venues and teams – a collaboration that is unprecedented. The Green Sports Alliance brings sports organizations and environmental experts together in an effort to improve the environmental performance of sports facilities and operations and inspire fans to do the same

The Green Sports Alliance was conceived and founded by Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc. and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Inaugural members and partners of the Alliance are the Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Sounders FC, Seattle Mariners, Seattle Storm, Vancouver Canucks, the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, and Milepost Consulting. Technical assistance and organizational support has been provided by Green Building Services, Lane Powell, Coates Kokes, Green Bear Group and the U.S. Environmental Protection.

About Skanska

 Skanska USA is one of the largest, most financially sound construction and development networks in the country, serving a broad range of industries including healthcare, education, sports, data centers, government, aviation, transportation, power, energy, water/wastewater and commercial. Headquartered in New York with 36 offices across the country, Skanska USA employs approximately 9,400 employees committed to sustainable construction and development and an injury-free workplace. Skanska USA Building, which specializes in building construction, and Skanska USA Civil, which focuses on civil infrastructure, generated $4.9 billion in revenue in 2011, representing 28 percent of Skanska’s global construction revenues. Development units Skanska USA Commercial Development, which invests in and develops office and multi-family projects in select U.S. markets, and Skanska Infrastructure Development Americas, which develops public-private partnerships, are both leaders in their selected markets. Global revenue of parent company Skanska AB, headquartered in Stockholm and listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, totaled $18.9 billion in 2011.

All of Skanska's sports projects are supported by our Sports Center of Excellence (COE), a group of experts with extensive experience in sports construction. The Sports COE supplements our local offices with the in-depth knowledge needed to successfully build the most innovative sports facilities. Skanska has had an office in Seattle since 1946.

 For more information, contact mshelter@usgbc.org, 202.742.3806