PLAYgreen

A drink thats good for you and the environment

As a Rec Sports member, we know you treat your body well by working out. How about a drink that treats you and the environment well? What drink is that you ask? It's yerba mate. Not only is it good for you, but the organic- and fair-trade-certified yerba mate is being sold in a sustainable fashion as well.

Yerba Mate is known for energizing your body, stimulating mental alertness, aiding in weightloss,
accelerating the healing process, relieving stress and fortifying your immune system.

In addition to all of its health benefits, companies now sell organic and fair-trade-certified versions.

Here our a few places that offer this delightfully eco- and fitness- friendly beverage:

EcoTeas
Guayaki
Grounds for Change

Source: Treehugger, viewed March 20, 2008

California High Speed Rail

We are all very lucky to live in the beautiful Bay Area, but sometimes we all like to get away to recreate elsewhere in California. The question is which mode of transporation do we take to get away? Airplane? Car? Hopefully soon, the California High Speed Rail will be an eco-friendly travel option that will reduce air pollution and improve the quality of air you breathe when you take your workout outside.

For more than a decade, California officials have worked on a plan for a high speed rail line connecting California’s cities. The high speed rail line would cut the number of cars on the road by millions, dramatically reducing air pollution and allow Californians to travel from the Bay Area to Los Angeles in two and a half hours, without the hassle of the airport. High speed rail is predicted to take up to 92 million drivers off the road annually and attract 18 million travelers who would otherwise fly. In doing so, high speed rail would eliminate the need for construction of 2,970 additional highway miles and 91 airport gates.

Find out more and take action here.

Source: Calpirg, viewed March 12, 2008

Campus Mint

Our new partnership with CampusMint has created a mobile solution to paper-less couponing and is the only mobile promotional product specifically geared towards students to offer an opportunity to be ecologically aware while saving money.

Interested in receiving paper-less coupons via your mobile phone? Click here.

How Do You Show Your Love for the Planet

At our Week of Love event, we gave our participants a chance to tell us how they show their love for the planet by playing, living and working in a sustainable fashion. The winner of the drawing won a Clif Bar bag filled with Clif Bar hats, water bottles, Mojo bars, a T-Shirt and so much more!

Although all of our drawing entries displayed great ways to show your love for the planet, our winner's was definitely top notch. What does she do to show her love for the planet? She conserves water, carefully purchases goods that are reusable and sets a example for her kids and others by being a good planet citizen. What do you do...add a comment to this post and let us know!

March Madness Celebration

Our March Madness Celebration, the second in our series of green events, will be held March 10-13! Held at the RSF, the four day event celebrates the countdown to the NCAA March Madness Tournament and your Spring Break.

Stop by the RSF during the event and enter our "How will you PLAYgreen this Spring Break?" Sweepstakes for a chance to win a Travel Gear Package from KIVA Designs. Enter at the event or on our Cal Rec Sports – RSF Facebook group.

We look forward to seeing you there!

RSF Lights: Brighter, Greener

Have you noticed that the lights in the RSF Field House are quite a bit brighter? We’re part way through a full scale upgrade of our lighting systems that will reduce energy use, lower maintenance costs and provide better quality lighting in the gyms. Throughout the RSF, existing light fixtures will be replaced with high efficiency, high output fluorescent lamps and transformers, which will be equipped with occupancy sensors so that lights will automatically switch off when an area has been unoccupied for 20 minutes.

Why are we doing it? There are a lot of reasons; the biggest is the fact that increasing energy efficiency by installing new lighting equipment is one of the quickest and least expensive ways to reduce electrical demand. Once the project is complete – in June of 2008 – the reduction in energy use will be equivalent to removing 132,000 pounds of CO2 per year from the air. Another way to look at it: the avoided energy use is like switching off 760 100-watt light bulbs.

This change also makes good business sense. The energy savings are 252,000 kW-hours of electricity per year, for an estimated cost saving of $25,000. The total cost for the RSF Lighting Improvement Project is estimated to be $114,000, but 80% of that amount will be paid through a grant from PG&E. Thus, the RSF’s net cost is $23,000. So based on the energy savings, plus the PG&E grant, the project will pay for itself in less than one year.

The effect of the project is visible right now in the Field House. New fixtures have been installed and the light levels have dramatically increased. By June 2008, lighting will be improved throughout the RSF. Users will be able to see well even as RSF reduces both its costs and its contribution to global warming.

Now, when you’re working out at the RSF, your surroundings will be not only brighter, but greener.

Cut Fat and Carbon at the Same Time

It turns out that fighting global warming is good for the waistline. If every American spent 30 minutes a day walking or cycling instead of driving, the citizenry would collectively cut carbon emissions by 64 million tons and shed 3 billion pounds of excess flab, according to Paul Higgins of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Trim even more by trading in that T-bone for tofu--livestock production produces 18 percent of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization.

Discuss this subject with others at The Sierra Club.

Source: The Sierra Club, viewed March 3, 2008

Cal Adventures - Get outside and go!

The weatherman has predicted beautiful and sunny sky's for the weekend. So, there's no better time than the present to head out to the marina and experience Cal Adventures.

Cal Adventures offers several green activities from sailing to kayaking and windsurfing to youth camps! All of these programs are excellent ways to get outside in and around the Bay Area and just have some fun while being exposed to the local environment. Also, all these activities have less of an impact on the environment than many alternatives.

While participating in these activities with Cal Adventures, you may also be exposed to one of our numerous staff who have an infatuation for the natural environment. Many staff in the program take small steps everyday in attempt to make big difference. Staff ride their bike or take the bus rather than driving and Cal Adventures supplies re-usable mugs to the public for drinking water (rather than paper or plastic).

They open on Saturday, March 1 and beginning next weekend are open Friday 12:00p-7:00p or sunset, whichever is first, and Sat/Sun 8:00a-7:00p. If you are hoping to check out their sailing opportunities, rentals don't begin until 12:00pm.

For further information on how to PLAYgreen with Cal Adventures, visit our website at http://www.calbears.berkeley.edu/caladventures