Cardinals lose World Series, win 'Sustainability Series'

Measuring the sustainability of the 2013 World Series teams, the St. Louis Cardinals come out ahead, according to the team's energy partner.

Microgrid, the official energy manager for Busch Stadium, has released data on the green practices of the Cardinals and World Series champ Boston Red Sox.

According to Microgrid, the Cardinals’ green program has recycled some 1,800 tons of waste and diverted 575 tons of trash at Busch Stadium, which has 550 recycling bins scattered throughout.

The Cardinals’ efforts date back to a two-month pilot program, dubbed 4 A Greener Game, in 2008. The program now averages 25 volunteers a game helping to divert tons of waste from the stadium trash disposal and local landfills. Also, maintenance staff separate additional recyclables from the trash after the games.

The most recent data on the Boston Red Sox show some 65 tons of single-stream recycling of plastic bottles and cups, partly through the Red Sox Poland Spring Green Team of 75 volunteers each game. Fenway Park is home to about 100 recycling bins.

On the solar side, Busch Stadium operates with 106 solar panels producing about 32,000 kilowatt hours of energy per hour. While the data is not apples to apples, Red Sox officials estimate the team saves 18 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year through the solar thermal panels installed at Fenway Park. In 2008, the historic ballpark was the first in Major League Baseball team to install solar thermal panels.

Read more from Microgrid.