Sports stars and education

I don’t know why I never thought of sport as a way of educating people about the environment, but it looks like a great way to reach out to kids. Surfing the net recently, I came across a blog called 6footsix. It’s about the plans for a beach volleyball player called Colleen Smith to educate people about being more environmentally friendly and she aims to get kids involved by creating a “green team”.

I’m guessing if I were to talk face to face with her about the enviroment, at six foot six inches I’d probably listen to what she’s got to say! She puts temporary tattoos on her body to show how high the sea level will be in years to come to show the impact of global warming. It got me thinking about what other sportsmen and women are involved with educating people about the environment.

Frank Scura is the founder of the Action Sports Environmental Coalition (ASEC) and also Eco-resolutions which helps companies develop environmentally sustainable business practices. ASEC was formed in 2001 and has formed partnerships within the extreme sports world with skateboarders, surfers, BMX riders and also clothing and gear companies.

The coalition aims to educate people about the environment and also the extreme sports industry. It looks like its going to go far and hopefully more groups like these will start popping up within other sports too.

In other sports news the organising committee for the London 2012 Olympics has joined the ‘Supplier Ethical Data Exchange’.

They’ve also said the committee is working towards publishing a sustainable sourcing code later this year which principally means using recycled products and recycling as much as possible.