Rangers going, and growing, green

ARLINGTON -- Rangers Ballpark in Arlington has been spotted with the team's red, white and blue colors for the last three nights. But behind the scenes, there has also been plenty of green.

The most notable effort made by the organization to highlight its ongoing environmentally friendly initiatives was to invite 150 local volunteers to assist with recycling efforts. During each of the three World Series games hosted by Texas, 50 youth from the Volunteer Center of North Texas canvassed the stadium collecting recyclable products.

Though the Rangers don't enjoy this type of volunteer corps during the regular season, the hope is that this three-day effort will encourage other local groups to consider volunteering for this type of project throughout the year.

"We would like to start doing that during the games," vice president of facilities Gib Searight said. "But it's tough to get volunteers to come out 80 nights a year."

The Rangers have implemented a number of other green initiatives in recent years, and this extra month of baseball has allowed them to continue those environmental projects.

For the past four seasons, all recyclable products left in and around seats have been collected and separated before the trash is gathered and sent to the landfill. The organization has also set up approximately 120 recycle bins throughout the stadium to encourage fans not to throw bottles and cans in trashcans.

The Rangers use surrounding lake water to irrigate the field and nearby grounds, and grass clippings from the field are collected and spread as mulch or put alongside creeks to hold bare soil.

Office paper is sent off to be shredded and cardboard is compacted for recycling. All sorts of other office products are also recycled and incandescent light bulbs have been replaced by fluorescent ones.

Furthermore, the club recently partnered with Scott's to help recycle three baseball fields in West Dallas. Those fields, which had previously been unusable, now serve as space for the Rangers' RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) program.

"A lot of stuff is almost commonplace," Searight said of all these environmentally conscious efforts. "... It's just nice that we have been able to carry it through for another month."