Carbon Neutral Pro Bowl Sets Recycling Goal

HONOLULU, Hawaii (ENS) - To make this year`s Pro Bowl a carbon neutral event, Community Energy, a green energy marketer and developer, is donating renewable energy credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions from Saturday`s Pro Bowl and the National Football League Pro Bowl Tailgate Party.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, will work with the NFL to calculate the net carbon savings from its Pro Bowl activities.

To raise funds and help keep the event litter-free, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hawaii and Honolulu Recovery Systems are working with the EPA and the NFL to collect and recycle bottles and cans in the parking lot at Aloha Stadium while fans are tailgating.

`America has embraced recycling, with millions of Americans regularly recycling at home and in the workplace,` said Susan Bodine, assistant administrator of EPA`s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. `EPA and our partners are working to build on this success by showing Americans that public events can be recycling events.`

This year the collection has been expanded to include additional parking lot areas, with the goal to collect over 12,000 cans and bottles, yielding $600 through deposit rebates.

Community Energy has committed to match the money raised, with proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hawaii.

The Pro Bowl effort is part of EPA`s goal of reaching a 35 percent recycling rate nationwide and one of the public space recycling projects undertaken by EPA`s Recycle on the Go program. Recycle on the Go encourages recycling at concerts, sporting events and other locations. By working with partners, EPA aims to make recycling easy and convenient.

The EPA and Aloha Stadium authorities say they will meet after Pro Bowl 2007 to discuss how to further `green` Aloha Stadium.

Information about Recycle on the Go: