Coyotes save energy, Phoenix remains indifferent
Since July 30, things have been different around the Phoenix Coyotes’ front office.
No, they haven’t magically turned into a good hockey team, but what they have done is become a more eco-friendly franchise, taking a cue from both the Players’ Association and the League.
As a way to reduce waste from concession stands, the arena will use biodegradable cups made from corn, which decompose in a few months.
“You’d swear it was a regular plastic cup if you saw it,” said Doug Moss, Coyotes president and chief operating officer. “These are really incredible things.”
Plates and bowls will be made of molded fiber from 100 percent recycled materials, and the utensils will be made of vegetable starch.
ARAMARK, a food-services facilities-management company, is working with the Coyotes to provide the new utensils, plates and cups by October, when the hockey season starts.
Crum said the company is aware of the amount of water and power the arena uses. It is looking into installing timed faucets and using compact fluorescent light bulbs to save water and energy.
That’s pretty rad.
The Flames have been carbon neutral for a few years, and the Bruins are headed that way as well, thanks in no small part to the work of all-around good guy Andrew Ference.
Last year, Ference started the entire Player’s Association on its effort to be carbon neutral. Over 700 of the league’s 900-plus players had agreed to neutralize their 10-ton (yikes!) carbon footprint through last winter before all the teams had even been met with. The NHLPA’s offices in Toronto are entirely carbon neutral, as is the NHL office in New York.
Hockey, for obvious reasons, is probably the most eco-unfriendly sport just because of the amount of energy it takes to run an arena and the rink’s cooling system and everything else.
So kudos to the Coyotes for going green, but I doubt high energy bills are the reason the team is hemorrhaging money.
