Major Composting Effort Highlights Cannon Ballers Earth Day Initiatives

(KANNAPOLIS, N.C.) – Expanding the team’s commitment to making Atrium Health Ballpark one of the “greenest” venues in Minor League Baseball, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers have announced new composting efforts aimed at reducing gameday waste.

During each Cannon Ballers home game, fans will now see green composting receptacles located throughout the ballpark concourse. Although locations for trash and recycle still exist, the green bins provide an opportunity for fans to dispose of compostable items which will transform into nutrient-rich soil within a few months. Since their inaugural season, the team had already taken strides to ensure all food waste from kitchen preparations were properly composted.

Concessions at sporting events traditionally create massive amounts of waste each year. As a result, the Cannon Ballers set out to focus their efforts on utilizing more environmentally friendly products in all concession and food service areas. Partnering with Colorado-based Eco-Products, the team has migrated the majority of their food packaging to new items made out of compostable materials. Such items include food containers, beer and soda cups, straws and lids, utensils, napkins, and plastic bags. Along with any leftover food, all of these items can be diverted from landfills and redirected to composting facilities.

“We have been working diligently with all of our vendors to utilize as many compostable products as possible,” said Chris Beasley, Director of Food & Beverage at Atrium Health Ballpark. “Team leadership is deeply committed to a sustainable future and I am confident that our efforts will lead to long term impacts.”

Another key contributor to the Cannon Ballers initiative is locally based Crown Town Compost. Once items are properly placed in the composting receptacles, they are delivered to Crown Town’s Charlotte location for sorting and then redirected to their composting facility that creates soils, mulches, and other landscaping materials from the compost.

Over the course of the season, the team will be educating fans and building awareness on the impact of composting and why it is important for the environment. “Our goal is to educate the community while making it fun at the same time,” remarked Cannon Ballers General Manager Matt Millward. “We will be creating videos with our players that will be shown each night, as well as doing some interactive in-game promotions that bring awareness to what items are compostable.”

In addition to waste diversion, LED field lights and motion sensor lighting assist with energy conservation at Atrium Health Ballpark. The Cannon Ballers also have plans to further reduce their carbon footprint by focusing on strategies aimed at water conservation.