The Green Team

100 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92101


Baseball season opens this month! How green is the home of San Diego's Padres? As one of the newer baseball parks, PETCO Park was built with the environment in mind. The park's sustainability efforts are managed by a Green Committee and they have won a slew of conservation awards.

GOOD: Here are just a few things to feel good about while you cheer on the San Diego Padres...
Building construction. The park location itself has helped revitalize a previously neglected part of downtown itself. Its construction incorporated an existing building, the historic Western Metal Supply Co. The kids' playground is partially made of recycled materials and some of the flooring elsewhere in the park is made of recycled rubber. 
Recycling. The people at PETCO are finding ways to recycle as much as possible, right down to cooking oil, food waste, uniforms, grass clippings, and wire hangers used by the dry cleaning service. Plastic packaging is collected and used by an outside company to make decks, railings, and fencing.
Water Conservation. Bathroom water flow is minimized and field irrigation is carefully timed to avoid waste. 
Energy Efficiency. A master computer system monitors and controls all heating, cooling, and lighting systems for maximum efficiency. Motion sensors assure that lights and air conditioning are switched off when PETCO offices and suites are empty or the doors open. Compact fluorescent lamps are used wherever possible and recycled when they burn out. 
Education. Recycling is deeply ingrained in the PETCO Park mission, from employee training videos, newsletters, and handbooks to Jumbotron messages and signs for the fans. The team also hosts "Green Night" and several recycling nights.
BAD: Just by the virtue of being a ballpark, PETCO is a huge consumer of land and resources and a huge generator of trash. However, SGSD is glad to see the measures PETCO Park and the Padres have taken to ease their impact on our environment and hope to see even more in the near future.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Be sure to leave the car home and take the Trolley right to PETCO. Once you get there, grab some fish tacos or a veggie burger.

BOTTOM LINE: 4 Stars ****

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