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EPA Welcomes NCAA Final Four and Sustainability to North Texas

Release Date: 04/02/2014
Contact Information: Joe Hubbard or Jennah Durant at 214-665-2200 or [email protected]

DALLAS – (April 2, 2014) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency along with representatives from the Final Four Sustainability Team have partnered to increase environmental performance at this year’s Final Four Basketball Tournament on April 5-7, in Arlington, Texas.

The Sustainability Team includes EPA, NCAA, Big 12 Conference, Coca-Cola, AT&T Stadium, Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, City of Dallas, and City of Arlington.

“This is an exciting time to participate in Final Four activities and encourage environmental stewardship,” said EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry. “With more Americans taking action on improving the environment at home, it is important to remember we can take action at sporting events too.”

EPA is tasked with organizing Educational Outreach and Food Recovery for the event. During the event EPA will work with the non-profit organizations Rock and Wrap It Up! and Food Source DFW to facilitate food recovery at AT&T Stadium and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center during the events.

Recycling food scraps is good for the environment and great for business! Reducing, recovering, and recycling food waste at sporting events decreases its environmental impacts by producing less waste; consuming less energy; and reducing emissions. As part of the Green Sports initiative, EPA works regularly with sports venues, organizations and teams to address environmental challenges.

Here are a few of the efforts from the Sustainability Team for the 2014 Final Four:

The sustainability efforts began with the “First Four” tree planting ceremony on Feb., 12. The Sustainability Team will plant a total of 1,014 trees in the local community commemorating the event and emphasizing the importance of decreasing our environmental footprint.

Today, a Green Court – Sustainable Legacy Project was created from recycled materials for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Dallas, Texas. The Big 12 Conference will help sustain the multi-sport court with an annual refurbishment stipend.

Final Four volunteers are donating non-perishable food items in exchange for their volunteer uniform. The food will be given to the North Texas Food Bank and Tarrant County Food Bank.

The NCAA and Local Organizing Committee working with D.A.R.T. are helping fans with accessible and sustainable transportation to AT&T Stadium during the conference. Tickets are available at Dart.org/FinalFour.

NCAA youth clinic participants will learn about the importance of air and water preservation from EPA regional experts as well as EPA on-line tools for learning more about our environment. As a part of SLANT (Service Learning Adventures in North Texas), youth grades 3-8 are creating projects focused on issues related to environmental health. Over 600 participants have designed SLANT projects that focus on the environment.

Local artists will showcase their creativity with an artwork display, called Renew. Reduce. Replay. Start with Art! Display locations are located at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

Connect with EPA Region 6:
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eparegion6
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAregion6
Activities in EPA Region 6: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.htm