BASF sponsors second season of Sustainable Saturdays with the Seattle Mariners All-Star pitcher Felix Hernandez challenges fans to Strike Out the Landfill. LIVE BASF Trivia Challenge rewards winners with Samsung GALAXY Tab 2 including a year of unlimited data from T-Mobile SEATTLE, WA & WYANDOTTE, MI, April 10, 2013 – With a little help from All-Star pitcher Felix Hernandez, BASF will team up again this year with the Seattle Mariners for their second consecutive season of Sustainable Saturdays at Safeco Field, starting with Saturday night’s game against the Texas Rangers. The program was such a hit with fans in its rookie year that it’s become one of the club’s most popular promotions, with participation five times greater than expected. Thanks in part to BASF-sponsored zero waste stations throughout the concourse, the Mariners and their fans already divert more than 86% of game-day waste away from local landfills through recycling of plastic bottles and composting of food waste and food service items. During each Sustainable Saturdays game, Mariners fans will turn their eyes to Safeco Field’s brand-new, 56’ x 201’, energy-efficient LED high definition MarinersVision video display board in centerfield to play the BASF Trivia Challenge. The season-long, ten-game trivia contest offers fans the chance to win a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0 with a year of unlimited data from T-Mobile. Questions highlight how one of the greenest clubs in Major League Baseball transformed itself into an eco-hero in less than a decade, and how the Mariners inspire fans to take simple steps to do the same at home. This season, pitching ace Felix Hernandez joins BASF and the Mariners to challenge fans to compost at Safeco and at home –- making it a doubleheader. Together, they will give away more than 10,000 ‘kitchen catchers’ at an upcoming late-season game. The countertop compost bins, featuring King Felix, urge fans to ‘Strike Out the Landfill’. "BASF is proud to support the Mariners and Sustainable Saturdays. When it comes to green and sports, the Mariners are knocking it out of the park in their pursuit of Zero Waste,” said Chris Bradlee, BASF’s North American biopolymers-market development manager. "And from BASF’s perspective, this kind of sponsorship connects directly to the company’s purpose of creating chemistry for a sustainable future.” “It’s great to have BASF on our team for a second consecutive season of Sustainable Saturdays,” said Scott Jenkins, vice president of ballpark operations, Seattle Mariners. "Compostable bags made from BASF ecovio® help make it possible for Safeco Field to put valuable organic matter back into the soil cycle every season.” The BASF technology helping the club achieve its green gains is ecovio®, a partially bio-based resin, which is used to make certified compostable bags for food waste collection. Already in use throughout kitchens and concessions at Safeco Field, compostable bags made with ecovio® are also available in a convenient counter-top size, created with curbside collection in mind. The bags offer a clean, easy way to participate in residential food waste collection programs. Mariners Sustainability With a sincere and sustained commitment, the Seattle Mariners are working to significantly reduce the team’s environmental impact. Since 2006, the Mariners have been leaders in sustainable ballpark operations. The team uses the power of its position as a community leader to educate and encourage fans, partners, employees and the community at large to make changes both large and small that advance the cause of sustainability. During 2012, due to recycling and composting, the Mariners diverted two million pounds of waste from the landfill, saving $128,000 in waste disposal costs. For these efforts, Major League Baseball named the Mariners American League Recycling Champions for 2012. BASF - The Chemical Company BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 16,600 employees in North America, and had sales of $18.5 billion in 2012. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.us. BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF had sales of €72.1 billion in 2012 and more than 110,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com. ® Trademarks of BASF Corporation and BASF SE Media Inquiries: Rebecca Hale 206-346-4360 [email protected] Stacey L. Russell 734-324-6660 [email protected]
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Apr 23, 2013 12pm EDT / 9am PDT / 5pm BST / 6pm CEST