In the spirit of Earth Day, the entire Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse family, which includes the AHL Lake Erie Monsters and the AFL Cleveland Gladiators, in addition to food and beverage partner Aramark, are proud to not only set the stage for world-class sports and entertainment in downtown Cleveland, but continue to grow their sustainability efforts!

“The Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse are proud to continue to make big strides in sustainability,” says Cavs President of Business Operations Kerry Bubolz. “Opportunities for us to make a difference are everywhere, and we’re trying to raise our level of awareness in how we can make both big and small changes that can have a positive impact on the environment and our community.”

Trash Talk
As of January 2014, in partnership with Republic Services, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is now capable of recycling plastics up to a resin number 7, or essentially all plastic materials that have any recyclable value. They do this this through a “single-stream” process, where all paper, plastic, metal, glass and other materials are collected in a single unit, instead of being sorted by a depositor into separate commodities and handled separately throughout the collection process.

By including more materials to be recycled and streamlining the process, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse has significantly decreased the amount of waste going to the landfill by an average of 71% each month. In fact, in the three months that this process has been in place, the arena has already surpassed the total amount of materials recycled in the previous 2013 calendar year.

The Clean Plate Club
For the past two years, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and its food and beverage partner, Aramark have been working closely with local recycling facility Rosby Resource Recycling to take nearly all of Aramark’s food waste and recycle it into nutrient-filled mulch and compost. With 42 tons of food waste in 2013, the compost produced can then be used by cities and municipalities, universities, professional landscapers, golf courses and park systems to grow plants.

Cavs and PwC Team Up to Green Up!
The Cleveland Cavaliers and PricewaterhouseCoopers US (PwC) are helping to provide green space for generations to come by launching the "Trees for Threes” program this season, where the organizations have pledged to plant one tree for every three pointer the Cavs make during 2013-14 regular season home games.

Beginning this Arbor Day (Friday, April 25) and continuing throughout the spring, Cavs and PwC volunteers will branch out into the community to plant a total of 291 new trees, donated by Pettiti Garden Centers, to beautify the landscape throughout Northeast Ohio.

Other notable strides in sustainability include:

• Collecting more than 157 tons of recyclable waste in 2013, including 3,259 pounds of recycled electronics, 511 pounds of batteries and 2,918 pounds of fluorescent lamps.
• Decreasing the amount of water dispensed by one gallon per cycle by replacing all public restroom sinks with more water efficient spouts.
• Continuously transitioning from T12 fluorescent bulb to more energy-efficient T5, T8 and LED bulbs throughout the arena.
• Continued efforts by the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Clean Team to use environmentally friendly microfiber towels instead of paper towels and cotton cloths.
• Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse’s continued use of the Orbio, a system that produces ionized water to be used as a cleaner and once it has been utilized, reverts back to water. This eco-friendly equipment is used to clean glass, stainless steel, carpets and hard surfaces at The Q, minimizing the need for conventional chemicals.
• Aramark has switched from biodegradable containers to plastic containers upon discovering that it was more environmentally friendly to recycle plastic through local waste plants.