Dickerson looking to make Reds green

CINCINNATI -- This past summer, Chris Dickerson wanted to do his part for the environment by taking better care of his little corner of the world -- a Triple-A clubhouse in Louisville, Ky. He did so by starting a bottle-recycling program that was embraced by his team.

Dickerson's career moved to a higher level in August when he reached the Major Leagues with the Reds. He's hoping his efforts to help the environment can do likewise next season.

"I'm just trying to make people conscious of how much plastic we use as a team on a daily basis," Dickerson said.

Professional athletes need to stay hydrated and the most popular delivery method of those fluids has been via plastic bottles. Whether its bottled water, Vitamin Water, Gatorade or Propel, teams consume thousands of bottles of various liquids each year.

While playing for Louisville, Dickerson was appalled at the amount of plastic that wasn't recycled once those bottles were discarded. He made recycling bins and stationed them in the clubhouse. The 26-year-old also engineered a donation of 30 water bottles for his teammates from Sigg, a Swiss maker of eco-friendly aluminum bottles.

The bottles are reusable and only require refilling from a water jug. Several players promoted from Louisville brought their aluminum bottles to the Majors with them, including Dickerson.

As word of Dickerson's efforts in Louisville spread through the media, he found fellow ballplayers interested in helping. Jack Cassel, who pitched for the Astros last season, joined with Dickerson to found, weplaygreen.org, a non-profit organization with a mission to bring pro athletes together and create more environmental conservation.

The new Web site is scheduled to launch this week. Dickerson said that Major League players such as Jon Garland, James Shields and Reid Brignac of the Rays and Conor Jackson from the D-backs are also getting involved.

"We're going to be a coalition of athletes from all sports to inspire other athletes and fans to start recycling and cutting down on the enormous use of plastic," Dickerson said. "The amount of plastic used in a clubhouse is amazing. I wanted to inspire other people to bring green awareness and at least be conscious of the waste they consume and do away with."

According to data provided by weplaygreen.org from the Beverage Marketing Corporation, the average one-liter water bottle requires .00052 barrels of oil to produce the polyethylene teraphthalate within it. Americans were estimated to have consumed 31.2 billion liters of bottled water in 2008, which would mean approximately 16.2 million barrels of oil were used to make the bottles. Millions of those bottles are often put into the trash and not recycled.

Once up and running, weplaygreen.org will sell green wristbands, shirts and hats made from recycled cotton with a portion of the proceeds to benefit stopglobalwarming.org. The group also aims to gather donations for high schools and colleges to get reusable bottles and plastic recycling bins.

"We're in a full-fledged effort to get the word out," said Dickerson, a native Southern Californian who started recycling at home at a young age. The movie documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," got him motivated to spread the eco-word.

Although not assured a 25-man roster spot on next season's team, Dickerson has made arrangements with Sigg to get more aluminum bottles for the Reds and hopes to have water jugs and recycling bins set up in the clubhouse next season.

The Reds, who began their own comprehensive recycling program for employees and fans at Great American Ball Park during the 2008 season, are planning to get behind Dickerson and his grassroots efforts.

"We're looking forward to implementing a sustainable-resources initiative that will encompass all green opportunities," Reds vice president of ballpark operations Declan Mullin said. "We're also excited to see how Chris Dickerson's ideas for a recycling campaign will complement our existing programs."

A frequent hindrance to helping the environment is that it can be expensive. The Sigg bottles Dickerson uses sell retail for between $20-30, which isn't exactly what a family on a budget wants to hear during these difficult economic times.

Thinking globally and acting locally doesn't have to hurt the wallet, Dickerson believes.

"The average person can find plenty of affordable reusable bottles everyday. There are other options. The point is to get people to switch away from the use of plastic bottled water."

One has to wonder if Major League players, used to having many things catered to them in a clubhouse and dugout, will make the extra effort to use the bottles and refill them?

"That is the tough part. I can't force them to change," Dickerson said. "I'm going to give them an opportunity to make the change if they want. I'm just trying to do my part. They can have the opportunity to do theirs. I'm hoping that philosophy will be enough to make a subtle change."