Denver's Karl steps up, speaks out about going green

George Karl has never had a problem being vocal about basketball. Now, he has something to say about an entirely different topic. The Denver Nuggets' coach is taking on the cause of eliminating excess waste and creating a more ecologically friendly environment as a supporter of the NBA's Green Week.

"I'm a big go-green guy," Karl says. "I'm a big believer that it's the one policy, or social and economic situation, that both Democrats and Republicans can come together on. I think it's energizing and I think it's a necessity."

From April 2-10, all 30 NBA teams will participate in the program, with efforts ranging from raising fan awareness to fundraising for local environmental agencies. Karl's Nuggets are one of four teams -- along with Toronto, Chicago and Charlotte -- that will abandon their normal color schemes and wear special green jerseys to bring attention to the event.

Teams league wide also will wear shooting shirts during warmups that are made from 100 percent organic cotton.

The Lakers, who may have an aversion to green from their battles with Boston over the years, is hosting an "Eco All-S.T.A.R. Night" when they play Denver on April 9. L.A. is on board -- just without the "g" word. The acronym in their promotion stands for "Start Today and Recycle."

"When you look at some of the things about global warming and how we've put ourselves in a difficult position," Karl said, "I think the next 25-30 years are going to be really interesting to see how we change our behavior, change our pattern of business and patterns of living to make sure we take care of our planet."

Phoenix has been one of the teams leading the way with the green initiative even before Green Week came about. Earlier in the season, the Suns announced they were installing solar panels at the U.S. Airways Center. When Phoenix hosted the All-Star Game in February, the team used post-consumer products to build a playground in the community. Last season, Steve Nash unveiled his new signature Nike sneaker, Trash Talk, the first performance basketball shoe made completely from manufacturing waste. Suns forward Louis Amundson will oftentimes ride a bicycle to games.

"I think the 60-year old guy is going to have trouble completely understanding it and changing it," said the 57-year-old Karl. "But I think if we go early with the young kids and then the corporate leadership of the bigger corporations, [they] can have a major hit on the environment probably quicker than anybody.

"We're at a stage in our country today where I think educating our society that there are so many good things about going green that would be good for everybody [is important]. I don't think we've educated enough and I think anything to bring some type of consciousness and awareness [is a good thing]."

Allen Hershkowitz, senior scientist and director of sports greening programs at the Natural Resources Defense Council -- the non-profit environmental agency that the NBA teamed up with for Green Week -- agrees with Karl's assessment.

"It's not only the ecological footprint of the NBA that's being changed by the league's environmental initiative, it's literally a cultural shift in America that's being affected by this work," Hershkowitz said. "There are very few culturally influential institutions like the NBA. There's Major League Baseball, there's the NFL, there's the Oscars, maybe the Grammys. But in terms of cultural influence, sports are huge and basketball is one of the dominant institutions in the world. It really has global resonance."

The efforts by the 30 NBA teams include implementing recycling programs, placing solar panels on buildings, installing waterless urinals in public restrooms, using local and organic food in concessions and encouraging public transportation and carpooling. All could have a positive, tangible impact on the local environment as well as the world environment.

"The league and our teams have been working closely with the NRDC for a number of years to identify ways we could improve our environmental performance," said Kathy Behrens, NBA senior vice president of community and player programs, which oversees green programs for the league. "We've made significant changes in our building operations, teams have identified impactful ways to be greener in their practice facilities and arenas and our signature events like All-Star have evolved into much more environmentally friendly events."

Hershkowitz noted that Green Week is particularly tied to basketball because, even though the sport is played in state-of-the-art arenas in the NBA, most of the basketball being played worldwide is outdoors. Sucking wind after a full-court pickup game sounds downright dangerous when you consider that 70 million tons of global warming pollution is being dumped into the atmosphere every day, according to the NRDC.

Green Week isn't being implemented only at a team level. San Antonio guard Tony Parker and his wife, Eva Longoria Parker, produced a 30-second commercial for H.E. Butt Grocery Co., a Texas-based food chain. In the spot, Longoria Parker encourages shoppers to bring reusable canvas bags to the supermarket.

For his part, Karl bought his daughter a hybrid vehicle and said, "I would think the next car that I buy might not even be a hybrid, it might be all electric. I'm going to wait a year or two to see some of the breakthroughs in that area."

Karl encourages people to start with the most miniscule of changes to help the environment. Even if they might take some getting used-to.

"Just brushing your teeth and turning the water off is a good start. I have trouble doing that," he said laughing.