Dow's Seek Together Podcast Series I Episode 4: Sustainability in Sports

Whether you enjoy practicing sports, watching it at home or in the stadium of your favorite club or team, sports have inspired and unified people since the early days of civilization. Sports challenge and stretch our physical and mental capabilities. Athletes keep breaking records as new training methods become available, materials and sporting equipment continue to improve, and data helps us find marginal gains that can make the difference between winning or losing.

Just like in other industries, the call among athletes, sports associations and society at large to make sporting events and equipment more sustainable has become louder. In this episode of the Seek Together podcast, we’re joined by Bob Plishka, who leads Sports Marketing at Dow, and Roger McLendon, Executive Director at Green Sports Alliance, to discuss how innovations in sports are helping drive meaningful action and turn entertainment into opportunities to contribute to a more sustainable world. By having a comprehensive look at all elements involved in the production of major sporting events, there are clear opportunities to be found to reduce the carbon footprint.

Our guests discuss the connection between sports and the environment, the power of shared resources and networks, and how collaboration between sports organizations, communities, athletes and fans can contribute to sustainable progress.

“What is key to driving sustainability in sports is the exchange of expertise. That’s why we’re helping leaders from across the industry get in the game to discuss and ultimately overcome barriers to progress. We have to address challenges from all angles, ranging from energy usage, water consumption and transportation, to food waste. We have to go beyond 'just changing lightbulbs' and really understand the supply chain, our operational impacts, fan engagement, and have a holistic approach to sports to figure out how we can accelerate the change we want to see,” says Roger McClendon.

"These are proof of concept times. We have to demonstrate it can be done, and we have to demonstrate it can be done through any means possible. How does it happen? It happens through people doing the hard work," Bob Plishka concludes.

Thank you for tuning in, and we hope you’ll enjoy listening to the Seek Together Podcast!