Reds outfielder Chris Dickerson has gone green.
Besides playing Major League Baseball, promoting environmental awareness is his favorite pastime.
Dickerson, 27, envisions using alternative sources of energy at Great American Ball Park, as well as “getting Little Leagues to use solar power and eventually maybe even wind energy to power not only the stadium lights but the scoreboards.”
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He’s the founder and chief executive officer of weplaygreen.org, which has signed up some of the top players in Major League Baseball – including fellow Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce – to help spread the word about the importance of recycling and alternative energy.
“The big plan is … to mobilize these athletes and get them out there into the community,” Dickerson said.
In his first local outreach effort aside from sponsoring a weplaygreen.org float in the Reds Opening Day Parade, Dickerson has teamed up with Clermont County’s Miami Township to promote a free recycling workshop, which will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday22 at the Miami Township Civic Center, 6101 Meijer Drive.
Last week on the field at Great American Ball Park, Dickerson taped a public service announcement about the event with Miami Township Trustee Mary Makley Wolff, which is running on the township’s cable television station and its web site, www.miamitwp.gov.
“We want them to show up and learn,” Wolff said. “It’s an opportunity to learn how to compost and understand what you can do with your trash.
“We have to start with our own government operations and show how it can be economical and easy to recycle,” Wolff said.
“The more we can inspire and encourage people to thoughtfully manage their waste the better off I think we’ll all be in reducing the effects of this environmental crisis we’re in,” Dickerson said.
Cleveland Indians pitcher Jack Cassel, co-founder of weplaygreen.org, helped Dickerson compile a roster of athletes willing to pitch in.
Besides baseball players such as All Star second baseman Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies, members of the weplaygreen.org team include Matt Cassel, quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, and pro volleyball players Suzanne Stonebarger and Michelle Moore.
“We’re going to be collaborating with (a waste-management company) and developing recycling bins that are going to be distributed through sports and entertainment venues throughout the country,” Dickerson said.
“These bins can be sent to Little League and high school fields, colleges,” Dickerson said. “It’s about educating young kids to really gain a sense of environmental responsibility.”
The first school weplaygreen.org hopes to join forces with is Xavier University. Dickerson worked out with the XU baseball team while he was a minor-leaguer recuperating from an injury, he said.
“We’re going to get them recycling bins in the home and away clubhouses, “ Dickerson said. “Also one of the bigger goals is getting them reusable water bottles for practice and games, (and) energy efficient lighting in the weight room, in their clubhouse and in the coaches’ offices.”
The XU baseball team is open to those ideas, coach Scott Googins said.
“That’s exactly what we’re going to try to do,” Googins said. “He’s put a push to go green. It’s a good message to be sent.”
Also in the works at weplaygreen.org is a brand of clothing made from recycled cotton and other materials, Dickerson said.
While growing up in Sherman Oaks, Calif., Dickerson became aware of the consequences of pollution when he began surfing as a high school freshman.
“The Los Angeles River flows straight into the Pacific Ocean, (and) there’s so much trash,” Dickerson said. “The plastic bags when you’re out there get stuck on your feet. … Just being in the water on a daily basis, you really see the effects of when we’re irresponsible about how we dispose of our waste.”
The Cincinnati Reds have stepped up to the plate as far as recycling, said Dickerson, who is in his second year with the big-league club.
“Prior to this season, (Great American Ball Park has) became one of the greenest ballparks in the country, from composting the grass clippings to converting all the (cooking) oil that’s used in the concession stands into biodiesel fuel,” Dickerson said. “Rumpke’s done a great job as far as dispersing recycling bins all around the stadium.
“We’re trying to instill a consciousness” among Reds fans, he said.
