ALLEN HERSHKOWITZ
SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIES
ALLEN HERSHKOWITZ
TITLE: GREEN SUSTAINABILITY ADVISOR
COMPANY: NBA INDUSTRY: SPORT
LOCATION: RIDGEFIELD, CONNECTICUT, US
Dr. Allen Hershkowitz is an environmental scientist, visionary, activist, writer, lecturer and strategic sustainability advisor. For 26 years he served as a Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council( NRDC) & is currently the Sustainability Advisor to the New York Yankees, the NBA, Major League Soccer, the LA Clippers, Playhouse Sq. and other culture-shifting market leaders.
With the backing of Commissioner Stern( whose wife Dianne has worked with environmental advocacy organisation EarthJustice) the initiative quickly gained momentum.
The programme’ s early focus centred on making sustainability visible and accessible. Recycling and composting bins appeared in arena concourses, allowing fans to actively participate in reducing waste during matches.
This grassroots approach proved quite transformative, creating real connections between the fans and the idea of environmental responsibility. As Allen had predicted, when fans saw these initiatives first-hand, they understood the league’ s genuine commitment to change.
Since those early days, NBA Green’ s accomplishments have been substantial. In May 2019, the NBA became the first professional sports league to join the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, committing to halve its emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2040.
What’ s more, 10 NBA stadiums have LEED certification, with Sacramento’ s Golden 1 Center achieving the distinction of becoming the world’ s first indoor sports venue to receive Platinum status – the very highest accolade for buildings when it comes to sustainability.
What NBA Green has achieved since 2007 After the organisation adopted a philosophy of sustainability the league’ s franchises quickly followed suit. In the past two decades, the NBA’ s Individual teams have made remarkable strides.
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