NEW YORK – The NBA today tips off NBA Green Week presented by Sprint, featuring community greening projects, recycling programs, green giveaways, special adidas oncourt apparel, and auctions to encourage fans to “go green.”  Continuing through April 12, this marks the fifth year of the leaguewide Green Week hosted in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

In conjunction with Green Week, the NBA is also launching Mosaic, an on-line tool designed to measure environmental impact. In partnership with NRDC and Renewable Choice Energy, Mosaic will allow all NBA teams and venues to track, analyze, and identify cost savings opportunities within their environmental footprint. In addition, as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, the league also will work with Sterling Planet – a leading supplier of renewable energy – to offset the amount of electricity used during all 67 NBA games taking place during Green Week.  This commitment will result in a carbon avoidance of more than 10 million pounds, which will be one of the largest pollution offset initiatives by any sports league worldwide, and the only one to involve every team in the league.

Throughout NBA Green Week presented by Sprint, adidas – the league’s official oncourt apparel provider – will outfit all players with 100 percent organic cotton adidas shooting shirts, available at NBAStore.com and the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.  Players will also wear NBA Green headbands and wristbands made from 45 percent organic cotton, while NBA coaches and broadcasters will wear NBA Green lapel pins, all in an effort to raise additional awareness. NBA teams across the league will also host in-arena nights along with a variety of events and activities in the community to support environmental protection.  In addition, the NBA and Sprint are launching “Pledge to Recycle”, a fan contest that tips off today, April 4, and continues through May 16.  Fans who pledge to recycle their old mobile devices can enter to win a grand prize trip for two to the 2013 Finals.  Fans can learn more at NBA.com/SprintPledge.

“At Sprint, we want NBA fans to know that we are committed to taking steps towards improving our environmental impact and ask fans to take actionable steps with us,” said Steve Gaffney, Vice President-Corporate Marketing, Sprint. “We treat environmental responsibility with a high level of importance and through our presenting partnership of NBA Green Week we are reaching out to help educate fans and customers about the environmental and financial benefits of recycling wireless devices.”

“The NBA is thrilled to once again partner with Sprint for NBA Green Week,” said NBA Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility Todd Jacobson.  “We have a shared commitment to environmental protection and are proud to team up in a collective effort to raise fan awareness and participation around conservation.”

During Green Week, the NBA and Sprint will encourage fans to do their part for the environment through wireless device recycling events hosted by current and former NBA players in three NBA markets – Los Angeles (Clippers), Boston (Celtics), and Orlando (Magic).  As part of the Sprint Buyback program, fans will be able to recycle their eligible phones from any carrier and receive up to a $300 service credit from Sprint, along with autographs, tickets to upcoming games, and other giveaway items. Through this program, Sprint, which ranks third on Newsweek’s list of the 500 greenest companies in America, has kept more than 28 million wireless devices out of landfills.

“NBA Green Week stands alone among all professional sports greening initiatives.  No other league dedicates an entire week to educating millions of fans about environmental sustainability,” said Natural Resources Defense Council Senior Scientist Allen Hershkowitz.  “The NBA’s commitment to offset the electricity used during Green Week games will result in a carbon avoidance of more than 10 million pounds; that’s one of the largest pollution offset initiatives by any sports league worldwide. And with the launch of a comprehensive environmental data gathering system, the NBA takes their commitment one more giant step forward by improving the way every team’s arena is managed from now on. These sustainability initiatives confirm why the league is regarded as one of the world’s most responsible sports organizations.”

NBA Green is a year-round program and the NBA family continues to identify and implement environmentally sound practices across all of its business areas.  To date, five NBA team arenas – Philips Arena (Atlanta Hawks), AmericanAirlines Arena (Miami Heat), Rose Garden Arena (Portland Trail Blazers), Toyota Center (Houston Rockets), and Amway Center (Orlando Magic) – have received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Additionally, five NBA teams have installed solar panels on their arenas, garages, or practice facilities: the Golden State Warriors’ practice facility, the US Airways Center (Phoenix Suns), STAPLES Center (Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers), the Denver Nuggets’ Pepsi Center, and the San Antonio Spurs’ AT&T Center.  Also, in September 2009, the Minnesota Timberwolves installed a green roof spanning 115,000 square feet on the Target Center, making it the first green roof on any North America arena and currently the nation’s fifth-largest.

The NBA/WNBA family is also a proud member of the Green Sports Alliance, a non-profit organization that launched in 2011 with a mission to reduce the environmental impact of professional sports and to inspire fans to join in these efforts. NBA/WNBA participants include the Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Storm, Toronto Raptors and the NBA league office.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 55 million customers at the end of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 industries, during the last four years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in both its 2011 and 2012 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

About the Natural Resources Defense Council

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists. Since 2005, NRDC has been the world’s leader in professional and collegiate sports greening. As a result of NRDC’s work and EPA award-winning Greening Advisor, more than 100 professional teams have adopted environmental initiatives at their stadiums or arenas, and countless league “Jewel Events” have benefited from NRDC’s guidance. NRDC uses scientific expertise to help improve the efficiency of sports operations to reduce waste, improve environmental performance, benefit public health and uncover cost savings. Visit us at nrdc.org/sports and @NRDCGreenSports to learn more.

About NBA Cares

NBA Cares is the league’s global social responsibility program that builds on the NBA’s mission of addressing important social issues in the United States and around the world. Through this program, the NBA, its teams and players have donated more than $210 million to charity, completed more than 2.3 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 760 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play, in 23 countries and territories on five continents. NBA Cares works with internationally recognized youth-serving programs that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes, including: KaBOOM!, Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, UNICEF, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.  To learn more, please visit NBACares.com or follow us @NBACares.